


Tell Her I Love Her

by gtho



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, post-Samaritan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 17:18:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 52,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5057146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gtho/pseuds/gtho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Samaritan Root/Shaw relationship with different covers. Mostly fluff and some dynamic characterization.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Maybe Someday?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first time writing for the POI fandom, and I hope I can do these characters justice by the masses' standards. I truly appreciate the Root/Shaw relation and dynamics and I wrote this in my own time, but after some consideration, I have decided to publish this. If it is received well by everybody, I will continue to post more chapters. Thank you for stopping by and reading my work. Also, disclaimers: I do not own Person of Interest. I was inspired by the story and wrote a plot of my own using the characters from the show. Thanks again for your time. Have a wonderful day! =]
> 
> P.S. I'm sorry if it's not as dark and twisty as the canons are. I try my best, but the characters might not come off as dark and twisty as I want them to be since I'm not that great at writing dark fanfics. I just really enjoy their dynamics and relationship as a whole. I know ironing is foreplay for them in the real show, but that might or might not happen in this story.

Shaw’s eyes open wide and her right hand immediately went for the gun near her bedside after hearing a noise from outside. After calculating the sound for a few more seconds, she released the vice grip she had on the handgun. It sounded like Root was opening the front door with her own key. Shaw closed her eyes again for barely ten seconds before she heard a loud crash outside her bedroom. She sprung up in a sitting position and shifted her legs to the left side of the bed before standing and walking out into the hallway. Shaw’s steps moved faster when she saw that Root was struggling to get up from the floor and was holding onto her left shoulder, blood spilling through her slender fingers.

“Who the hell shot you?” Shaw asked with an angered undertone. Root flinched as Shaw went to push her back down from standing up. Holding Shaw’s gaze, Root backed down and let Shaw guide her out of her black blazer. She hissed as she had to bend her arm in an angle that made pain shoot from her shoulder all the way down her arm.

“I do love it when you play doctor.” Root said as she bit down on her bottom lip. Shaw stopped mid-movement and gave Root a stern look before she maneuvered over to Root’s injured side.

“You won’t be loving me so much when I press my thumb into that entrance wound.” Shaw responded as Root’s smirk turned upside down. She helped Root out of the blazer and set it across the back of the couch before she went back down and kneeled on her knees as she without a warning got Root out of her white and bloody red sweater. Root bit down onto her bottom lip again to keep from yelling out in pain, so much that her lip started bleeding.

“Stop biting your lip. It’s bleeding.” Shaw pointed out the obvious as she brought a hand up to Root’s face and removed her lip from her teeth after she’s gotten Root out of the sweater and left her in the white skin tight tank top. Root stared up at her with mixed emotions in her eyes, not knowing whether to be grateful or embarrassed that Shaw was witnessing this much pain and weakness in her. Shaw frowned down at the woman beneath her, wondering how she’d come to care so much for Root even after she’d diagnosed herself with Axis II Personality Disorder almost a decade ago. She ran her thumb over Root’s lower lip again, so focused on it that she hadn’t realized Root’s moved her hand to the back of Shaw’s neck. Shaw felt herself being dragged forward and down towards the other woman. She let Root pull her in. She let her see how her protective instinct arise when Root gets hurt. She let Root see how much she is angered and hurt that Root got herself shot. Shaw let Root see how much she cared as her gaze lifted up to meet Root’s stare. They were inches apart but still calculated each movement with precision and care.

“You’re not sleeping on the couch tonight,” Shaw said a hair-breadth away from Root’s lips.

“Sameen…” Root barely retorted as Shaw pulled back an inch.

“Root.” Shaw addressed her sternly as she looked hard into Root’s brown eyes.

“You know...we can’t…” Root started to say.

“ _Please_.” Shaw said, almost as much as begged Root. Shaw was using that sweet like honey tone that Root would fall for and have a hard time resisting when used on her, and Root looked away and rolled her eyes as her breath got caught in her throat.

“Fine, but I’m going back to the couch after I am feeling better.” Root said still looking away. Shaw nodded and turned Root’s face back to her.

“Stop looking away. Hiding isn’t my style.” Shaw said as Root’s eyes expressed surprise at her words. Shaw leaned in to press her lips against Root’s before she could react any more than Shaw wanted her to. She heard the gasp before the kiss and smiled as she took Root’s bottom lip between hers and kissed it gently. Root kissed her back with more fervor and Shaw took her time with Root’s lips while she trailed her left hand away from Root’s face and down to her good shoulder. She felt a shiver run through Root and it made her feel even more triumphant that she could cause such a reaction in another body, especially the one in front of her. Shaw kissed Root’s lips once more before pulling away slowly, pressing their foreheads together as she listen to Root’s heavy breaths. She opened her eyes and found Root’s staring right back at her. Shaw gulped at the desire she saw in Root’s eyes, knowing that there were more important things to do now. Pulling herself completely away from Root, she let her eyes settle on Root’s wound and sighed seeing the ballistic trauma near the scarred gunshot wound she had caused Root over half a decade ago. Shaw told Root to remain where she was and went to sterilize her hands and get the first aid kit she had in the bathroom before returning to exactly where she was a minute ago. Root was looking at her with intention and she rolled her eyes to avert the tension. Shaw carefully dressed Root’s wound after tending to it and tried her best to keep her gaze away from Root’s chest. She bickered with herself internally as she scolded herself about staring at Root so blatantly when she’s hurting and needs attention for her gunshot wound. Shaw looked at the gauze closely to see if anymore was needed to cover the wound and when she looked up, she saw Root staring down at her with a smile on her face.

“What?” Shaw said and grunted as she backed away from Root, cleaned up the area, taking Root’s bloodied sweater with her, and went to the kitchen to throw out all the medical supplies she used on Root.

“Is today _maybe someday_?” Root asked as innocently as possible. Shaw was pouring whiskey into her hands to sterilize them and stopped knowing immediately what Root was talking about. Her back still turned to Root. She suddenly took a drink from the bottle and put it down on the sink before twisting the cap back on, and turned around with her hands resting against the sink’s edge as she closed her eyes and breathe a heavy sigh.

“Why? Do you want it to be?” Shaw asked seriously as she open her eyes, her head shaking back and forth a little as she let the words slip into the space between them. Root sat still against the couch on the floor, looking at Shaw contemplatively.

“I don’t know, Sam… You’re in an awfully good mood today.” Root teased as she watched Shaw squirm beneath her gaze. Shaw doesn’t squirm. Ever. Not with anyone else anyway.

“What is this? Some kind of punishment? You’re the one who wanted this.” Shaw questioned in confusion. She actually just wanted to say, “ _Fuck you_.” instead but thought better of it. She wanted Root to take her seriously. She didn’t understand why Root kept up this push and pull thing between the both of them. Why wasn’t Root ready? What was wrong with Shaw? _Everything_. A little voice said in the back of her thoughts.

“No. I just don’t think you know what you want yet.” Root said so surely that it made Shaw sick.

“If that’s what you think, then you don’t know me at all.” Shaw said fierily. She pushed herself off the edge of the sink and gave Root one hard stare before walking past her and into her bedroom. The door slammed after her. Hard. Root smiled sadly at the door and dropped her gaze to the ground before her where Shaw had once kneeled just minutes ago. Root knew she wanted Shaw. She wanted every piece of her. She wanted Shaw to be hers and only hers, and she knew Shaw couldn’t give her that. She wanted to take all that Shaw could give, and Root wasn’t sure Shaw would ever be able to do that. She sighed before trying to lift herself up from the ground with her good side. It took a few minutes struggle and she really wish she had some painkillers, but she didn’t. Root slowly walked over into the small kitchen and twist the cap open of the bottle of whiskey Shaw had used to sterilize her hands and Root’s wound from earlier and took a drink from it. Her face scrunched up at the strong content of alcohol even as she reveled in it and its taste. Root took a swig every five to ten seconds. Before she knew it, the pain had dulled and she was beginning to feel quite light headed. She made her way over to the couch and sat down as she leaned her head back against the somewhat soft cushion. Her eyes grew heavy and only began closing when she felt arms around her and was suddenly being lifted from the couch she was on. She knew it was Shaw, or else she would’ve fought the protective arms that wrapped around her. Root tried opening her eyes to see her, to watch her, but she was too exhausted after getting shot and upsetting Shaw to even do a simple task as that. She felt the lightness of her head and everything around her, but the most amazing feeling was when she finally felt the firm but soft cushion beneath her. Root felt content. She and her thoughts quickly fell into a deep abyss of unconsciousness as Shaw laid on her side next to her watching her sleep. Shaw caught herself mid-movement as her hand had unconsciously drew closer to Root’s face to brush away the stray strands of hair on her eyes. She pursed her lips for a moment but soften immediately as Root’s face twitched slightly. Her fingers carefully moved Root’s hair out of her face, but they lingered on her features as Shaw questioned why Root made her feel this way around her and why Root didn’t want to continue whatever this was between the both of them. It was like the crazy woman was taunting her, and then retreated when Shaw finally responds to all of her flirting and innuendos. She just really rubbed her in the wrong way that was so right, and that confused Shaw to no end. Shaw watched Root unconsciously twitch in her sleep again as her even breaths fill the quiet space with a calmness Shaw never knew existed until she had met Root. She retracted her hand but allowed herself to move several inches closer as she pulled the comforter over the both of them. Shaw then turned around and faced the doorway. She closed her eyes and tried to shake off the feelings she was experiencing. It really didn’t help that she felt the warmth beside her twitch again in her sleep, but before she knew it, her reality was slipping away into that same deep dark abyss as well.

Root woke up to a sharp pain in her shoulder and breathed out heavily as the pain rain through her side. She clutched onto her upper arm with her right hand as she tried to sit up on her own. She felt Shaw shift beside her and looked over her shoulder to see Shaw with a worried expression on her features. She swallowed the dryness that rested in her throat and closed her eyes. The pain relented and she breathed easier breaths as she focused on relaxing. She felt Shaw moving and the next thing she knew, she was wrapped up in her arms and was being guided to lie back down. Root laid down on her right side and Shaw’s arm was under her neck and cradling her head close and burying Root’s face into her neck. Root breathed in Shaw’s scent and relaxed even more at being this close in proximity to Shaw. She couldn't help herself when she brushed her lips carefully over Shaw’s skin. She felt the smaller woman flinch but loosen up a few seconds later when she trailed small kisses up and along Shaw’s jawline. Root was surprised when Shaw dipped her head at the very next second and pressed her lips to Root’s. They didn’t close their eyes. It was an intense look shared between the both of them. It didn’t escape Root that Shaw’s eyes expressed that of confusion and anger.

“I’m sorry.” Root’s whispered apology surprised even herself.

“For what?” Shaw said against her lips.

“For wanting more than you can give.” Root answered sadly without skipping a beat. Shaw looked at her carefully, and thoughtfully, and Root wish she could just hack into Shaw’s brain to figure out everything about her and see how her codes really work.  Or maybe should’ve just kept her mouth shut.

“Who says I don’t want the same thing?” Shay finally responded as Root’s eyes widen in surprise.

“You couldn’t possibly…” Root trailed off in bewilderment.

“Love you?” Shaw finished for her. Root gulped and looked at Shaw seriously with an unwavering look, too afraid to miss a thing Shaw would say next. Root slowly nodded and look into Shaw’s eyes, seeing flashes of emotions she didn’t recognize. Shaw’s stare suddenly hardened and Root braced herself for the next influx of words to come. After several minutes of silence, Root became confused, even more so when Shaw just pulled her arm away from underneath her and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. They remain inches apart and facing each other. Root didn’t understand. How could Shaw just leave the conversation at that? She felt she was right all along. Shaw was her own person. She didn’t want to be anybody’s anything. She doesn’t want to be owned. She was not Root’s. When Root sighed a loud sigh and finally gave up to start going back to sleep in this new compromising position, Shaw suddenly spoke.

“I don’t...do relationships.” Shaw’s voice held a tenderness at the edge of it but that was it. The rest of her tone was cold and controlled. Root opened her eyes and looked into Shaw’s. “But I feel the need to protect you. I repress _wanting_ to do the protecting. I mean I...just can’t...if anyone hurts you. Touches you. Looks at you the wrong way. Whisks you away into some dark alley...and presses you against a brick wall. I mean...besides me of course.” Shaw said pointedly as she looked seriously into Root’s eyes. Root blink rapidly at the words she couldn’t quite understand and process quick enough, seeing Shaw’s face fall and frown at her reaction.

“Sameen...I’m already yours.” Shaw’s name lingered upon her lips. Shaw looked at her stoically yet bordering on almost disbelief. “And I’ll take whatever you can give me. I just want you to be sure.” Root spoke as she looked straight into Shaw’s eyes.

“That’s what these last three years have been about?” Shaw questioned in frustration and shook her head back and forth and turned on her back looking up at the ceiling. “I want to _kiss_ you. And I want to _hold_ you when you’re hurt. Is that _sure_ enough for you?” Shaw asked in annoyance. Root smiled and nodded.

“Yes, Sameen. That’s good enough for me.” Root sighed as she pulled Shaw close by the tank top and brought their wanting bodies together. Shaw kissed Root back and moved her arm back underneath her neck and Root bunched the front of the tank top in her fist as she pulled her as close as possible. The urgency in their kiss slowed after a few minutes as they went back to brushing gently against each other’s lips. Root was the first to pull away this time and she settled a few inches away from Shaw. They lied next to each other in silence and kept their eyes locked on one another. Root couldn’t help it as her eyes grew heavy again and she blinked slowly at Shaw watching her from where she was. She noticed the still figure beside her moved in a little closer, and she knew Shaw would continue to watch her even after she fall asleep. Root fell asleep soundly as Shaw stared at her in wonder.

“And the sex is better than any filet I’ve ever had in my life.” Shaw whispered quietly to the sleeping figure. Root unconsciously moved towards Shaw and she grinned at the reformed killer for hire turned hacker. She hesitantly let her hand rest on Root’s hip on top of the covers and she decidedly close her eyes to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be another day.

**  
**


	2. What Are We?

“Who’s a good boy? Yes, you are! Come here, Bear!” Root watched on with an amused smile as Shaw petted Bear affectionately and cradled the rest of him in her arms on the ground. It seems like the Belgian Malinois has caught up with everyone’s English lately, seeing as he only obeyed Dutch commands before. The trained military dog wagged his tail and barked happily as Shaw smiled adoringly his way. Root sighed, feeling a tad bit jealous that a dog can easily get Shaw’s attention in contrast to her. She even tried to dress up in a bear costume once, putting up the pretense to entertain kids at a children’s party after she had rescued and tranquilized Shaw from exposing herself and getting into any more danger with Decima. Shaw didn’t even care for it, not for the costume nor the funny impersonation she attempted of being in the bear suit. Shaw looked up and caught her eyes at that exact moment, a shimmer of something appeared in it that Root does not recognize.

“Ms. Groves… Ms. Groves?” Finch’s voice called her back from her thought process. Root turned to look at him and nod as his lips kept moving but not a word carried through the air and into her ears. She was distracted by the thought of Shaw and how she’d like to make her dinner tonight for once. Shaw loves steak more than anything. She even once proclaimed that a joint in St. Louis served a filet that was “better than sex” when they were having drinks at a bar in Miami, after beating up a militia group in Anchorage and stealing a jet to fly to Florida of course. They hadn’t had a chance to bond since then. 

When Samaritan had allowed Decima to take Shaw captive as she tried to save Root’s life before that fierce kiss in the elevator, Root searched for her restlessly and endlessly in the days after. She never gave up and wandered through the dark streets at night as a homeless woman for her cover. She had no home without Shaw anyway, and sleeping on her couch wasn’t the same when Shaw was gone. After about a year when Finch, Root, Reese, and Lionel finally fought to the end of their wits with the help of the Machine, they finally brought Samaritan offline for good and destroyed all of Decima to its very last employee, including Mr. Greer himself. It was a long and arduous fight, but when Root found Shaw in a white room where she was imprisoned and kept in an induced coma, she couldn’t believe that she had finally found her. It was a vision that would remain imprinted in her memories for a long time.

Several years have passed by since the Samaritan era, but those years still feel so near; like it had only happened yesterday. Haunted by nightmares and devastating feelings, Root had found herself a home on Shaw’s couch once again. They had kept their operation quarter in the underground subway. It was hard to let go for everyone on the Machine Team, and Bear loves it down there where he had ample space to run around unlike Harold Finch’s old library quarter from before. Root and Shaw are content with how things are now. They’re making progress even, no matter how little. Kisses here, a bit of physical contact there, and some quality time together were everything that they both needed. They weren’t able to go back to the physical aspect of their relation that they had before Shaw was captured by Decima, but Shaw and Root knew that they needed to work on the foundation of what they have first and rebuild from there before they can jump to anything else. Also, the Machine had plans for Root that had her travelling for most of these past three years. This last mission that dealt with Carrie Woodland was the first one they’ve worked on together in more than a year. It seemed like the Machine was doing its best to keep them apart, but Root knew it was for the greater good. She knew the Machine wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t necessary and she trusted that she and Shaw would be okay sometime in the future. She was not Root’s. Root knew that. Root doesn’t think Shaw could ever be anybody’s anything. Shaw doesn’t want to be owned. The Machine and Root seems to be aware of this, and that is what Root loves most about Shaw. That is also what had drove them to where they are today.

Root wondered if Shaw was okay with the arrangement. She must be if she hadn’t put up a fight when Root disappears halfway across the world without a warning. Duty calls even at the most unlikely moments, and Root would slip away and come back weeks or months later, and Shaw would greet her with a blank expression as she usually does when she saw Root on her couch again. Root noticed that Shaw was definitely hot and cold this time around. It worried her a little. Maybe that was why she had this inclination to want to cook for Shaw, not that she’s trying anything or to satisfy her sex drive like Shaw might read into her actions and words. "What sex drive..." Root spoke lowly to herself as she thought aloud and chuckle lightly. 

As if reading her mind, the Machine spoke monotonously into her ear: “What is a sex drive? Where is the sex going? Does it have a license?” Root laughed out loud at the Machine's humor and forgot how crazy that might’ve looked to everyone else around her as she found herself staring at Finch’s stunned face.

“You’re too funny.” Root spoke to the Machine before she resumed watching Finch’s confused expression. “Sorry Harold, She was telling me a joke. Are we done here?” Root smiled and Finch closed the manila folder on his desk to indicate the end of their discussion, and she move her left hip that was resting against the table and started to stretch her arms over her head. She looked over at Shaw and noticed her staring, so she started walking over to her and Bear. She rubbed Bear’s head as he leaned into her touch, and she watched as Shaw stood up slowly from sitting on the ground near Bear.

“What do you say we go grocery shopping for some filets, Sweetie?” Root asked. Shaw looked down at Bear for a moment before lifting her gaze back up to Root.

“Who’s cooking?” Shaw asked as she eyed Root suspiciously.

“Bear will.” Root smiled down at the Belgian Malinois as she ran a hand over his short hair. Shaw scoffed and crossed her arms as she looked pitifully at Bear. “I’m cooking, of course.” Root smiled widely at the fiery woman. Shaw’s eyebrows lifted and watched her carefully.

“If you poison me, I _will_ end you.” was Shaw’s response.

“Noted.” Root grinned as she eyed Shaw up and down and bit down on her bottom lip.

“Now what?” Shaw asked in annoyance.

“Nothing.” Root said as she petted Bear’s head once more before making her way towards the stairs and out of the abandoned underground subway station. Shaw rolled her eyes before leaning down to kiss Bear goodbye and quickly followed after Root. They went underground again for a working subway ride to get to their destination. Once above ground, they entered the local supermarket nearby and Root grabbed a red shopping cart and wheeled it inside the store. Surprisingly, Shaw walked side by side with Root instead of a step or two behind her like she usually does. They stopped by the meat section first and Shaw rolled her eyes once again at Root as she used her sickeningly sweet voice with the butcher as she asks for recommendations. Without a warning, Shaw cut in and pointed at the piece she wanted and told him to cut it in half for her. The mid-thirties guy that thought he might be getting lucky to ask for Root’s number looked between the two before hesitatingly move back to the meat cutting machine. Root glanced over at Shaw and smirked before Shaw mutter to herself about knowing what kind of meat is best. Root nodded carefully at her words and looked back at the guy splitting the big piece of meat in two. She smiled as she felt a warmth in her right hand a minute later as she looked down to find Shaw had sneakily slid her hand into one of her coat’s side pockets where she kept her cold hands.

“I’m cold.” Shaw simply said as she entwined their fingers together. Root bit back a smile and looked straight ahead as the guy finished wrapping up their filets.

“Okay.” Root spoke lowly but still discernable enough for Shaw to hear. After Shaw went to grab the small package before the guy could speak, she pulled them along and tossed the meat into the cart while dragging the end of the shopping cart with her right hand. Root finally allowed herself to smile as she grabbed onto Shaw’s upper arm with her other hand and they walked closely together for the remaining of the shopping trip. They grabbed a few sweet potatoes and runner beans to make sides for the steaks as well. Root quickly paid and Shaw held onto the grocery bag as they walk the rest of the way to Shaw’s small apartment in silence. Shaw let go of Root’s hand at the entrance and allowed her to open the door to Shaw’s apartment with her own key and they walked in together.

“I’m going to shower. Don’t burn down my apartment.” Shaw threw over her shoulder as she headed towards her bedroom. Root sighed and set out the ingredients she needed on the kitchen counter as she put a heavy pan onto the stove and let it start heating up. She decided to change into more comfortable clothes to cook in and headed over to the little suitcase she had by the couch and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt with the M.I.T. logo in the front of it. After Root was done changing, she pulled the sleeves up to her elbow and put her hair up into a loose bun with a pen. She washed her hands and the sweet potatoes as the oven already started preheating itself with the Machine’s help. A few strands of hair fell into her face and she swept her long bangs to the side as she took out the filets and used a generous amount of salt and pepper to season the steaks. She pressed them into the meat with her fingers and set them aside as she started pouring neutral oil over the hot pan. When the oil started to smoke, Root readily put the filets in as the oil should be hot enough and she pushed the steaks down with her fingers to make sure that they are touching the bottom of the pan. She let the steaks sit for three minutes on one side with the potatoes already in the oven and ready in fifteen minutes time. Root looked for a medium-sized frying pan and placed it on an adjacent stove to the one cooking the steaks, and she washed, topped, tailed, and cut the runner beans diagonally into elongated diamond shapes and prepared the shallots to put in the pan. Once heated, she melted butter with oil in the pan over a low to medium heat and tip in the shallots and fried them gently. She pulled out another pan to start boiling water to cook the runner beans. Root turned to the steak as the Machine spoke into ear about it being two minutes and fifty seconds already passing, and she flip the steaks onto their second sides, and went back to occasionally stirring the shallots. A minute and a half passed and she melted butter into the heavy pan. She spooned the butter over the steaks ensuring to cover all parts of them. When the steaks were just about finished, she turned them onto their back, fat side down for thirty seconds to reduce and soften the fat. Root threw in the runner beans as she rushed to get back to the steaks and removed them from the heavy pan and baste them with more butter from the pan into the casserole dish she found in the cabinet. Satisfied and leaving the steaks to rest, Root went back to the runner beans and drained them after turning off both stoves.She turned up the heat on the frying pan and added sugar and vinegar to the shallots. She stirred the shallots and let it bubble for one minute before tossing the runner beans in and mixing the two together. After about another two minutes, she started to pull out plates and plated the runner beans with buttered shallots and steaks onto the dishes. She checked the oven to see that there’s still about one and a half more minutes until it fully bakes and she takes advantage of that time to rinse all of the pans and put them in the dishwasher. When the oven’s timer went off, Root took the whole baked potatoes out and sliced through them easily noticing how soft they were, seeing a nice orange color inside.

“Wow, where have you been all my life?” Shaw’s voice startled Root from behind. Root lifted her hand up to her chest and exhaled out a heavy breath before turning to Shaw and frowning at her. Shaw was staring at the plate and Root rolled her eyes before turning back to carefully put the whole potatoes on the dishes. Root contemplated setting up the dining table, so she just left the plates on the counter as she went to clean up whatever was left of the kitchen. Shaw reached around her to get the utensils in the drawer for the both of them and went to sit at the kitchen counter. When she was done, she joined Shaw, who was already seated on a bar stool and making her way through half of the meal already.

“So...is this better than sex?” Root flirted. Shaw was halfway scooping another spoonful of sweet potatoes into her mouth when her movement paused mid-air for one second and then she continued eating without answering Root’s question. Root smiled and they ate in silence as Root watched Shaw finish her food quickly. Shaw stood up and put her dish in the sink before opening the fridge to grab a bottle of beer and a bottle of wine. She opened the beer bottle and took a sip before reaching up into a cabinet, which Root fully took advantage of as she let her gaze travel over Shaw’s backside in a grey tank top and black shorts, and grabbed a wine glass. She poured wine halfway into the glass and then placed it in front of Root and set the bottles down on the counter as well. Shaw made her way back to the seat she had previously occupied and sipped on her beer as she let her eyes wander over Root’s features while she ate. They held each other’s gaze for a while as Root ate and Shaw drank. It wasn’t long before Shaw stood up and got a second bottle of beer. Root was just near finishing her serving as she pushed the plate forward a bit. She reached for the glass of wine that Shaw had poured for her and took a long slow sip out of it as she watched Shaw over the brim of the glass.

“ _Bottoms up_ ” doesn’t have to mean drinking, you know.” Root decidedly broke the silence. She watched Shaw smirked that non-calculative smug and smiled that her sexual innuendo didn’t go without notice.

“Don’t start what you can’t finish.” Shaw swiftly said in return as she got up and took Root’s plate with her. She dumped the leftovers into the sink and let the garbage disposal run as she turned on the water to start rinsing the dishes before adding them into the dishwasher as well. When Shaw turned around, she was surprised to see that Root’s already removed herself from the kitchen and shifted herself and the wine over to the leather couch. She watched with conscious thought what a boring evening it was, but even then, she’d rather have a boring evening with Root any day over a roaring night at a club or bar. She took out another bottle of beer from the fridge, switched off the lights, and walked over to where Root was before dropping herself next to the silhouette with a thump. Together they stared blankly at the front door of Shaw’s apartment in the dark.

“Root?” Shaw suddenly spoke into the darkness after ten minutes has passed.

“Yes, Sameen?” Root answered within a second.

“What are we doing?” Shaw bit onto her lip as she awaited an answer. She felt Root shift to face her and she swallowed the small lump in her throat before she got up the courage to turn her head and look at Root’s pretty moonlit face.

“Surviving, Sameen.” Root answered as she caught the other woman’s eyes and taking a drink out of her glass of wine.

“No, we’re not.” Shaw retorted frustratedly. “Those days are over, Root. Samaritan and Decima are gone.” Shaw spoke out the obvious. Root sighed but grinned all at the same time being reminded that the world is at peace now. Well, as peaceful as it could be without Samaritan and Decima. She put an elbow up against the couch and leaned her head into her hand.

“I guess...we are being boring domestic partners then.” Root finally said. Shaw’s face contorted into that of fake disgust and shook her head.

“That’s not what I meant, Root.” Shaw exhaled exasperatedly. She already knew that and was aware what they were, but hearing it coming out  from Root’s mouth did make something inside of her do a little flip.

“Then what did you mean, _Sameen_?” the way her name rolled off of Root’s tongue made Sameen close her eyes and direct her focus away from the warmth travelling all over her body. Shaw felt a cold hand on her left thigh a few seconds later but did not flinch at the touch, and she focused on her breathing for a minute before opening her eyes, not surprised to see Root’s orbs boring into hers.

“I meant...why are you sleeping on my couch?” Shaw’s words surprised her. That’s not exactly how she meant to address their three-year sex-less relationship, but it was the best she could force out of herself for the time being. Seeing Root’s smile annoyed her all the same and she felt embarrassed for having initiated this conversation. She's a woman of action, not words. She should've skipped the conversation and went right into showing Root what she really meant. She felt uncomfortable baring that insecurity for Root to see, but if there was one person she could lay herself bare to, that person was sitting right next to her.

“Sameen…” Root’s voice lingered in the air before Shaw could not take it anymore and took both her beer and Root’s wine and placed them onto the coffee table. She turned and faced Root again before taking Root’s face into her hands and pulled her in for a deep searing kiss she didn’t want Root to forget. Root’s heavy breaths of wine left an aftertaste when they parted a few seconds for air, and Shaw searched her eyes for any signs of hesitation or second questions before she could make another move. Root was the first to initiate the second kiss though, wrapping her hands around the back of Shaw’s neck and pulling her in. It was of slow and languid movements, but they found a sensual rhythm as it went on. Shaw removed the pen from Root’s loose bun and let her hair fall out over her shoulders reaching halfway to the middle of her back. Their lips parted and Shaw deliberately guided their bodies to lie down on the leather couch. Shaw stared down into Root’s eyes and supported her weight on her right arm as she brought her left hand up to brush the stray strands out of Root’s eyes. Her eyes fluttered in response and made something come unloose in Shaw, causing her to lower her mouth to Root’s instantly and breathed in all that was the woman beneath her. Root’s hands wrapped around Shaw and pulled her down further into Root’s body in response. Shaw moaned into Root’s mouth and ran her hands through her soft curls.

“Reflections-Earnest-Engine-Sundown-Exit” the Machine’s voice spoke into Root’s ear all of a sudden.

“Wait,” Root said as one of Shaw’s hands travelled down near her chest bone and her mouth trailed over the porcelain skin towards her neck. “Wait, Shaw, Reese - ” Root breathed heavily.

“Reese?” Shaw look up in confusion and her face twisted when she heard his name.

“I think he’s in danger. The Machine is talking to me.” Root said as she reached for her phone on the coffee table and took a look at her phone. As she predicted, a message showed an address in the opposite end of the city. Shaw groaned and got off of Root immediately, walking quickly to her bedroom as Root started to change out of her comfortable clothes and into some black jeans, combat boots, a grey t-shirt, and a leather jacket. She reached into the suitcase for her two guns and loaded them with new magazines and clips.

“Ready?” Shaw asked as she was quickly beside her tucking a gun into the back of her black pants two minutes later.

“As I’ll ever be.” Root smiled before she tossed her keys to Shaw. “You drive.” Root smirked as Shaw’s eyes sparked at the thought of riding the Dodge Tomahawk. In theory, it can reach up to 350 miles, but at that point the laws of physics and aerodynamics predicts that it’ll fly off the road.   

“And how are you going to get across town?” Shaw asked even though she was already on board with taking the one-seated Tomahawk for a spin.

“I’ll just steal a car.” Root shrugged. Shaw looked at her in amazement before grabbing the back of her neck and lay one on her.

“Okay.” Shaw said as she bit down on her bottom lip and started for the door. She paused at the door frame and turned her head around to look at Root for a moment. “We’ll continue this when we get back.” Shaw said seriously.

“Okay.” Root breathed as she watched Shaw strode off leaving the door wide open. Root shook her head at the overly excited Shaw and her new $700,000 bike. Maybe she’ll let Shaw have it after all. Stealing cars was way more fun anyway.

 ****  
  



	3. The Way You Look Tonight

Shaw watched as Root interacted with the number on the other side of the bar, flirting and touching him intimately on the upper arm and shoulder. He catches her eye and a calculative smirk graces his features. Shaw’s grip on the glass was concerning John Reese as he placed his hand over hers so she would stop herself from trying to break the glass. Reese smiled awkwardly at Shaw as he removed the glass of hennessy from her right hand and pushed it towards the bartender, who quickly refilled it with two more shots. Shaw immediately down the drink in two big gulps and Reese pushed the glass out of her hand and towards the bartender again.

“To tell you the truth, I’ve always hated observing.” Reese commented. “I looked into him. He’s not a good person, but he’s not that bad either. Somebody probably realized he’s stolen their money as well as cheated their love along the way, so they want revenge.” he continued and looked across the bar where the number was beginning to get handsy with Root. The hacker kept up her pretense as a self-made tech three-digit millionaire, and smiled deceitfully at him, but Shaw could tell that she wanted to break his fingers one by one and taser his crotch. Alright, maybe that last part was Shaw’s idea, but still, Root wouldn’t be able to resist the pain she can bring to the perverted jackass. Shaw just about had it when he started to run his hand over Root’s recently healed shoulder and made Root flinch a little at the contact.

“Stop being so low-key and vaguely menacing. Now let's cut the crap and kill this perverted son of a bitch.” Shaw said as she stood up and was stopped immediately by John Reese.

“Shaw.” Reese breathed barely next to her ear as Root’s face jerked up a little in their direction. “We’re all just doing our jobs. Do you need to take a breather?” Reese said as he gazed towards the door to the back exit of the bar.

“Ugh. Fine.” Shaw shrugged off his arm that was holding onto her tightly.

“John, it’s far too risky.” they all heard Harold said into their ears.

“I can still hear you, Finch.” Shaw said even though she knew he was not at all deterred by her comment.

“No such thing as a risk-free life, Harold.” John Reese sided with Shaw.

“Our perp just went to the bathroom.” Root’s voice had their heads jerked up and attentive all of a sudden.

“We don’t know if he’s the perpetrator yet, Ms. Groves.” Harold’s input made Shaw roll her eyes as she breathed icy breaths into the January midnight air.

“He’s fucking all these rich women and stealing their money. On what planet does that make him the victim in this kind of scenario, Finch?” Shaw responded. She could hear Root’s giggle and she smiled a little at that, even though she was still annoyed that Finch was defending the pervert.

“If you keep an open mind, Ms. Shaw, you might actually enjoy yourself in this operation.” Finch’s words made Shaw roll her eyes again. Talking to Harold Finch was like talking to a child too reasonable for its own good.

“Sure, I can keep an open mind. I can get rid of the horndog when absolutely necessary. I won’t go in with a grenade. I’ll just need a gallon of anything flammable. ” Shaw knew her suggestion would make Harold squirm uncomfortably in his chair behind the computer screens.

“Ms. Shaw, I am certain there are other ways to get to Mr. Stenson that do not involve any kind of combustion.” Harold’s concern-filled voice sounded through her right ear. She sighed and looked upward at the dark sky before she heard Root’s stupid cute giggle again.

“Finch, I was joking. Chill your grits.” Shaw rolled her eyes as she opened the back door and headed back into the bar with terrible booming music.

“Setting aside your somewhat binary moral compass, Ms. Shaw, you should know that Mr. Stenson’s life is at stake here.” Harold added.

“All right, Harold. We’ll play it your way. But if he’s really the perpetrator, I’m going to shoot him. And not in the knee.” Shaw let out a low, short guttural sound. She heard Root chuckle across the bar as soon as she stepped into the hacker's line of sight, and Shaw smirked as she knew that deserving laughter was specifically for her. Shaw took her seat on the barstool next to Reese again and stole the olive from his straight martini.

“Your banter with Finch was quite amusing.” Reese addressed the earlier exchange between them and their “boss”.

“Oh please, that was just foreplay.” Shaw waved a hand to brush it off as she smiled wickedly when she heard old Harold Finch sputtering out liquids on the other end of the line.

“You two play nice. I’ll just sit over here, with my gun.” Reese said as he scooted a seat away from Shaw and smiled awkwardly. Shaw shook her head and rolled her eyes, which happens to be a regular occurrence tonight, as she looked across the room to where Root was. The jackass was still laying his hand on her Root and Shaw looked at the end part of his pale arm murderously.

“Mmmm...I’d love to go back to your place.” Shaw’s ears perked up immediately at Root’s response to the treacherous thief.

“Seriously?" Shaw said in annoyance. "Did you have to say it like that?” Shaw spoke to Root this time around.

“Oh, Sameen. You know you can always join us in this mildly erotic moment.” Root flirted before she got into the car. Reese looked at Shaw amusely as they had barely left the bar and got into the dark Cadillac Escalade.

“No thanks to that invitation.” Shaw said stoically as Reese pulled out of the parallel parking spot and followed the car Root was riding shotgun in. Reese was smirking from his seat but stopped when he heard Shaw’s gun's safety switch off. “Let’s hope our perp have a nice weapon.” she said.

“Let’s not.” Reese said in return as he stepped on the gas when Mr. Stenson started speeding down the narrow road with his luxurious Mercedes-AMG GT S. It was nice but by the way he was swerving, it seemed like Mr. Stenson wasn't exactly all that skilled in racing with the shiny toy.

“He drives like a grandma.” Shaw casually commented. She heard Root chuckle on the other side of the line. The sports car came to an abrupt stop near a luxurious hotel.

“You’re staying at a hotel?” Root asked the number.

“Yeah, temporarily. My penthouse is being renovated right now.” Mr. Stenson lied convincingly but not enough for the team to spot the lie.

“Of course.” Root responded. The doorman open the entrance for them to enter through and Reese parked on the other side of the street as Shaw and Reese watched the both of them walk into the hotel. “Hey kids, the Machine says we’ve got a tail on the number.” Root whispered before she engaged in a light conversation with the conniving thief. Root and Shaw got out of the car quickly and made their way over to the hotel. “She booked a room right next to the number's. Just tell the front desk Reese's last alias, John Wiley.” Reese nodded at the doorman as he opened the entrance to let them through.

“Hello sir. Ma’am. How can I be of service to the both of you today?” a young woman approached them from behind the front desk and walked with them to it.

“I have a room. It’s under John Wiley.” Reese said suavely. Shaw smirked at his attempt to be charming.

“John Wiley… Yes, I have you booked for the Terrace Park-View Executive Suite. Your room is ready. Are there any luggages you’d like for us to carry up for you, Mr. and Mrs. Wiley?” Shaw’s stoic expression nearly cracked at the question of the front desk receptionist.

“No, we’re just staying for one night, if you catch my drift.” Reese said as he wrapped an arm around Shaw’s shoulders and pulled her close.

“Oh, I see.” the receptionist laughed shyly. “Christoph here will direct you to your room. Have a nice stay, Mr. and Mrs. Wiley.” the receptionist said again.

“Hey, wait! Is it alright if you can book us a reservation for two at the restaurant in an hour?” Shaw asked.

“Of course, Mrs. Wiley.” the receptionist answered and smiled politely before retreating back. Shaw turned and walked ahead of Reese, gesturing for him to follow her and not ask questions while he gave her a questioning look. They let Christoph lead them into the elevator and press the button for the 32nd floor. Soft music played in the elevator and the bellman appeared a bit too quiet and awkward to engage the both of them in any kind of small talk. They reach their floor quickly and was led into the room and got a quick brief tour from him. The bellman left them with instructions for everything and was on his way out after standing around awkwardly waiting for a tip. Shaw put her hand up mid-air asking for Reese’s wallet before he relented and handed it over to her. She threw a few big bills at the bellman and he left immediately afterwards. Shaw then toss the wallet back to Reese and he put it back into his pocket with a frown upon his face.

“This is nice…” Shaw said as she looked around and ran a few fingertips over the work desk. She walked over to the window where there was a nice view of Central Park at night.

“Why did you just do that?” Root said out of breath. Shaw stiffened at the sound and looked over at Reese who shrugged in response.

“I have been wanting to do that all night.” the number said all breathily as well. He must be near Root considering how loud his voice was in her ear. Shaw damn near wanted to cut his tongue out for kissing Root. Her Root.

“Wait, safety first.” Root said as Reese and Shaw looked at each other skeptically while hearing some rustling on the other side. "Bathroom's over there." Root's voice trailed.

“Okay.” he said excitedly. Footsteps started before there was a cackling sound soon to follow.

“You can come over now, kids.” Root said as she opened the door and saw Shaw and Reese already there and waiting. She stepped aside with a taser in her right hand as they came in and looked at the temporarily paralyzed man on the floor. Shaw looked up and saw that Root’s lipstick was smeared and automatically brought her hand up and removed the mark with her thumb. Root grinned at her and turned her face to kiss the inside of Shaw’s palm. Shaw met her eyes briefly before looking away and removing her hand from Root’s face. Reese pretended that he didn’t witness any of their interaction and looked back down to their number.

“I was getting tired of the verbal foreplay. He’s really not my type.” Root’s face scrunched up a little as she looked down at him with Reese. “You’ve got any more of those zip ties, Sweetie?” Root asked Shaw. The woman clad in all black pulled exactly four out of her pocket and handed them over to Root, who then passed it on to Reese. He sighed and started picking up the man and tying him to a chair.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat. I got us a reservation.” Shaw said to Root.

“Guess I will stay here. I think I’ll figure out the room service by myself.” he joked.

“Order the portobello ravioli. They taste good.” Root recommended. Shaw and Reese looked at Root thoughtfully. Was Root actually being nice to him? “I used to stay here...often.” she explained and surprised the both of them because they had presumably thought that the Machine had spoken into her ear. Before they could say anything further, she pulled on Shaw’s hand and led her out the door.

“I don’t do hand holding.” Shaw said through slightly gritted teeth as she tried to free her hand from Root’s as they walked towards the elevator

“Aww. Come on, Sameen.. Live a little.” Root teased as she pressed the elevator button to go down and glanced over to see Shaw looking up towards the ceiling pretending she was upset. Root looked up as well and bit down on her bottom lip to contain the smile that was threatening to erupt as she ran her thumb daringly across the back of Shaw’s right hand. The elevator’s doors open to an empty space and Shaw dragged Root in by the hand that was holding hers. She pulled Root into her immediately as the doors closed and kissed her fiercely, urgently, and passionately to erase everything the number had left behind. Shaw ran her hands through Root’s hair and pull her head closer, forcing her mouth open with her tongue and they made out for a couple of floors before Shaw let her go. Shaw held her gaze as the doors open to let more people in. Root fixed her hair and tried to control her ragged breaths as she leaned against one of the walls. They stared intensely at each other in silence until they finally arrived at the ground floor, and Shaw took Root’s hand and led them out of the elevator towards the hotel’s restaurant. She dropped Reese’s name at the front desk and was immediately led to a table for two in the back by the hostess, who looked down at their joined hands curiously. Shaw didn’t even wanted to wait for a waitron as she immediately place two orders of filet mignon for the both of them and two straight martinis with the hostess and told her to pass it on to their waitron. Root crossed her arms and rested them on the table as she sighed and stared at Shaw after the hostess left.

“What?” Shaw asked nonchalantly.

“I love it when you take charge.” Root said provocatively as she leaned forward even further.

“I bet, seeing how much you like being zip tied to the chair in that CIA safehouse.” Shaw winked effortlessly as she grabbed the martini their waiter was going to put down on the table. “Thanks…Zac.” as her eyes glanced over the name tag on his left chest. She smirk as Root’s flirtatious grin falter as she talked about that incident for the first time since it happened years ago.

“Is there anything else I can get for you ladies?” the waiter said as he placed the other martini in front of Root, who was still slightly affected by Shaw’s flirting.

“N-no. Thank you.” Root said tensely.

“I’d like another one of these. _Please_.” Shaw’s voice dropped a few octaves that made warmth travel in various places in Root’s body. Shaw looked over the brim of the glass at Root as she sipped the remaining of the martini and popped an olive into her mouth as she flirtatiously gaze at Root, making her squirm slightly in her seat. They stared at each other in an intense silence, and was interrupted again by the waiter who brought by some bread and Shaw’s second drink before taking the empty glass away. Root took the time to look down and smooth out her little black cocktail dress and cross her legs at the ankle underneath the table. When she looked up, she spotted Shaw staring appreciatively at her from across the table. Root grinned at Shaw and decided to uncross her legs, and slip out of her heels with ease as she let one foot caress the side of Shaw’s shin. She watched as Shaw’s face remained expressionless and she bit down on her bottom lip to see how long Shaw can keep up the cool look. Shaw started glaring at her as her foot travelled a little higher past her knees, but she opened her legs a little for Root’s foot to rest easily against the inside of them. Shaw started to cough a little as she unexpectedly felt the end part of Root’s leg travel further than she thought. She gave Root a look to quit it as the waiter came by with their two orders. Root smirked and retracted her extending limb from Shaw as requested and behaved herself throughout the rest of their candlelit dinner in silence. They had a lot of quiet moments like this, but neither was bother by them. It was one of those relationship where you can sit quietly next to someone, and then leave the conversation as though you’ve talked about everything there was to talk about together. Shaw glanced over at Root every now and then as she looked out the window at the city at night. It was a perfect scene to watch, especially for Shaw, who’s never experienced anything this flawless in her life. It was a confounding moment for Shaw. One she tried to shake herself out of but found it hard resisting to look at Root when she was so oblivious to the environment around her and continue holding that faraway look Shaw knew too well. It was an unrestrained look, a look of no pretense, a look of recognizing that they were still alive and well, a look of unbelievable relief, a look of everything they have experienced and survived, and it was a look of dreams fulfilled and hope recovered. It was mesmerizing to see how many emotions Root can experienced in a total of ten seconds, and Shaw was only experiencing an ounce of it from staring at the reflection of those brown eyes in the window. Shaw wasn’t one to feel. She wasn’t capable of emotions. She never felt bad after a kill. She didn’t believe she could until one day, she met a little girl and the Russian kid told her that she had emotions but that the volume of those feelings were turned down very low. Somehow, Root had seen that as well. She had recognized Shaw’s tuned down emotions and saw that she cared, even if it was only a brief moment of recognition. If Shaw was truly honest with herself, she would admit that her feelings around Root were amplified a thousand times the amount of that small volume of emotions she had for anything in her life. She would tell the little girl that she’s met someone that made her feel the slightest bit of normality of emotions; that those small volume of emotions amped up a thousand times would equate to almost the normal amount of emotions typical humanoids felt. Shaw looked at Root and felt the protective instinct arise at these emotions. She wanted to protect her. She wanted to keep her safe. She wanted to keep her forever if forever existed. She wanted to protect what they have for a long time. She wanted to bring this woman home to her mother. Shaw shook her head at the ridiculous thought that just crossed her mind. Root, who was just finished chewing the piece of meat in her mouth, turned at that moment and noticed Shaw’s small headshake. She tilted her head and observed the former U.S. Army Intelligence Support Activity agent as Shaw sliced through the last piece of filet in two. She forked it and put it into her mouth with a simple exertion, and Root watched Shaw’s luscious lips as she chewed with her mouth closed.

“Eat.” Shaw’s mouth suddenly opened and a demand came out of it. Root obeyed almost immediately and cut a big piece to put in her mouth. Shaw rolled her eyes and shook her head before she leaned over the table to cut that piece half for Root. A feeling swirled inside the pit of Root’s stomach at the small gesture. Shaw normally wasn’t like this with anyone else, and it made Root melt inside at the act. Root opened her mouth, hoping she wasn’t reaching too far by asking Shaw to feed her, and she was not disappointed when Shaw gave her an “Are you serious?” look and sat back in her seat. Root fed herself at the end of their stare off, and hummed a satisfied sigh as she began chewing her piece of filet. It took Root longer to finish eating since she usually didn’t eat this much protein, but Shaw had no problem waiting as she got another martini and Root was done with her plate at the end of Shaw’s third drink. Root offered the rest of her drink to Shaw but she declined with a shake of her head, and Root swallowed the remaining of the drink in two gulps, watching Shaw stare at her out of the corner of her eye. The waiter came by to confirm that their tab was taken care of by the card that also took care of the hotel room on the 32nd floor, and they both made their way over to the elevator. They entered the elevator along with the same receptionist who had helped Shaw and Reese with their room from earlier, and the woman looked a little nervous and out of her element. Shaw and Root gave each other a look as the elevator suddenly came to a stop at the 32nd floor and they all got off. They watched the woman make a sharp right turn after nodding courteously at the both of them, and Root stared after the woman with a serious look.

“She’s the one.” Root said with no emotion.

“Did the Machine tell you that?” Shaw asked.

“No, but I guess that is what she meant to say when she whispered the woman’s heart rate, level of emotional imbalance, and naming ten other symptoms of a guilty conscience on the ride up.” Root shrugged.

“John, you still got eyes on the perp?” Shaw spoke to the other team member.

“Yeah, Shaw. I’ll make this quick, Mr. Stenson. I have it on good authority that your life is in danger. And normally, I’d follow you around, help behind the scenes, but - well, you’ve got too much money belonging to the women you stole from and we believe one of them has followed you to this hotel. I can protect you, but you’ve got to give me that list of names of the people you stole from.” Reese said as the sound of something dropping to a hard surface followed. “Now, you can write those names down for me, or I’ll let you manage on your own in this chair.” Reese’s line went quiet for a good five or so seconds. “Good. Now, I will talk to my associates and we will narrow that down to the person that is here to harm you. Stay put.” Reese’s stern voice rang through their ears. “Root? I’ve got a list of names. I’ll take a picture of it for the Her to go over. I assume that is the fastest way?” Reese questioned.

“Yes, that’ll do.” Root said as she opened the door and walked into the room.

“You! Y-you’re in on this?” the number looked at her in surprise.

“Don’t talk to her like that or I’ll put a bullet in your knee. Got it?” Shaw’s voice from behind Root threatened the man. The number gulped and looked away in fear at the grave expression on Shaw’s face. Root smirked and went over to look at the list on the yellow pad.

“Facial recognition shows that a Kara Monroe had entered this floor exactly two minutes ago.” Root said as she looked back at Shaw. They both knew that the blonde in the elevator was nervous for a reason. Seems like they have found it after all. A careful knock sounded outside of the door. Shaw dragged Root into the closet with slats where they can watch and hide as Reese cut the number loose and instructed him to open the door while Reese hid behind it. Root enjoyed the close contact as Shaw pressed herself against Root in the dark cramped space. Root brought her hands up and rested them on Shaw’s hips as they both stilled at the contact. Root pressed her chest further into Shaw’s back and heard an exhaled breath from the smaller woman that made her feel more courageous than ever. Root gradually let her hands travel to the front where Shaw’s lower abdomen was and she once again heard Shaw suck in a little bit of air. Root smirked as she sneakily dragged her fingers underneath Shaw’s shirt and began trailing her fingers upwards and caressed Shaw’s sculpted core.

“Kara?” the number asked.

“Ben.” the blonde said as they watch through the slats. The number kept the door open to keep Reese hidden and the woman walked a few steps into the room, but he kept her standing there. Root chose that moment to lean forward and capture the outer shell of Shaw’s right ear between her teeth and her hands travelled further upward and she nearly groan aloud at how warm and soft Shaw was underneath her hands. She breathed into Shaw’s ear as she released the sensitive organ, and she trailed kisses down Shaw’s neck affectionately.

“What are you doing here? How’d you know where I was staying?” the number sounded nervous as he asked the questions.

“I’m here to take back the millions you stole from me, you son of a bitch.” the cold voice answered as she took out her gun. Both Root and Shaw stilled at the sight, and Reese skillfully knocked the gun out of her hand before she could even release the safety switch. Shaw elbowed Root a little weaker than she usually could with her strength, and got out of her hold as she opened the closet door and let herself out. Root smirked as she leaned against the wall with her good shoulder and folded her arms to watch Shaw adjust her composure and shirt. Reese looked at the both of them with an amusing expression, but his face twisted into a frown as the number tried to get away. He was a little fast, but Shaw was quicker and held him in a chokehold in less than fifteen seconds.

“Not so fast, perp.” Shaw grinned menacingly at the number.

“Ms. Shaw, must I remind you - ”

“Yeah, yeah, this is me playing nice.” Shaw cut Harold off as she brought out some more zip ties and bounded his hands and feet together. She look up to see Root looking down at her work.

“Harold, if you and Reese don’t mind wrapping this job up, Shaw and I are going to retire for the evening and use the hotel room tonight.” Root smirked.

“I’ll meet with Fusco downstairs.” Reese said as he pulled the two of them into the awaiting elevator with them. “Have a good night, you two.” Reese winked as the doors closed. Shaw and Root looked at each other and walked into the other hotel room that the Machine had booked earlier on short notice.

“I’m so tired. I’m going to go brush my teeth.” Root announced. Shaw nodded and watched her figure retreat into the bathroom right after she said those words. Shaw sighed and started to remove her boot and clothes. She took her bra off and left her tank top and panties on, and opened the door to the bathroom. Root was in the middle of brushing her teeth when she stopped the motion and looked at Shaw’s reflection in the mirror.

“What?” Shaw asked as she picked up one of the hotel’s new toothbrushes and squeezed some toothpaste onto it before she started brushing.

“Nothing…” Root said as she outwardly checked Shaw’s amazingly sculpted body with all the right curves and edges. Root slowly went back to brushing her teeth as Shaw spit out the toothpaste and quickly rinsed her mouth. She pulled the hairband out of her hair when she was done and Root stared at her backside as she walked back out. Root shook her head at the slight distraction and let out the breath she’s been holding without knowing. Shaw knew how to make an entrance and an exit alright. Shaw went over to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water to drink, and her head turn towards the bathroom when the door opened again and Root was stepping out. She watched Root appreciatively as she started to take off her pantyhose from underneath her dress.

“Can you unzip me?” Root asked innocently. Shaw rolled her eyes and grinned at Root’s attempt to seduce her. Root didn’t have to ask her a second time as Shaw walked over and helped her get out of the dress. Root was wearing a matching black lacy bra and panties underneath the little black dress, and Shaw could only bite down on her bottom lip as she tried to control herself from ravaging Root right then and there. “You don’t mind if I sleep in just my panties right?” Root asked even though her fingers were already unclasping the front of her bra. Shaw’s mouth went dry as she watch the undergarment fall to the floor. She shook her head to answer Root. “Good.” Root smirked as she stepped closer towards Shaw and leaned in to kiss her softly. She moaned into Shaw’s mouth as Shaw’s hands  touched her and trailed from her shoulders down to her backside.

“You’re such a tease.” Shaw whispered against her lips as they parted for a minute.

“Only for you.” Root responded as she led them towards the bed. Root put her hands at the bottom of Shaw’s tank top before pulling it up and off of her. She took in Shaw’s breasts with her eyes before leaning down to kiss them. Shaw close her eyes at the contact and let Root guide her to lie down on the bed. Root straddle her hips as she flipped her hair to one side and leaned to take Shaw’s nipple into her mouth, kissing and licking them with little to almost no pressure. She took her time with each breast, and kiss her way up to Shaw’s neck. Trailing a hot wet path up to Shaw’s lips, she was surprised that Shaw hadn’t rejected her soft and affectionate touches to her body. She kissed Shaw lightly and let Shaw run her hands up and down Root’s back steadily. With a single move, Shaw used her arms and brought Root down flushed against her body with their breasts pressed against one another. Root gasp at the sudden motion and chuckled at Shaw’s attempt at cuddling her. She would never admit it, but Root knew that Shaw loved it when every part of their skin were touching as they slept. Root felt Shaw move her face into the crevice of Root’s neck and they both sighed as they comfortably move onto their sides and their breaths started evening out. Root relaxed as Shaw continued to run her hand up and down Root’s back and stroked her body with so much tenderness and care that Root was starting to feel like she was dreaming. Shaw pressed a faint kiss to the side of Root’s neck but Root didn’t miss it and sighed aloud as she pressed her body further into Shaw’s.

“Root?” Shaw’s voice broke the silence after a couple of minutes.

“Hmm?” Root hummed in response.

“This is driving me insane.” Shaw said as she set her head back onto the pillow from Root’s shoulder. She breathed out a heavy sigh and turned her head to the left to look at Root who was already staring right back at her.

“What is?” Root asked innocently, even though she knew exactly what Shaw was talking about.

“You know what.” Shaw said as she kept her eyes locked with Root’s.

“But I want to hear you say it.” Root smiled as she reached up a hand to touch Shaw’s face. It was a feather-like touch, but it brought chills throughout Shaw’s body as she finally broke eye contact by closing her eyelids.

“Soymilk.” Shaw said as she open her eyes.

“Soymilk?” Root asked with the most confused expression Shaw’s ever seen.

“Yeah. I can’t stand the stuff. Can we go back to real milk?” Shaw asked as Root looked at her like she just grew another head. “Go cow, or go home.” Shaw half-joked, smiling as she watched the confusion etch itself to every part of Root’s face.

“Okay… But is that all?” Root questioned, looking more disoriented than Shaw’s ever witnessed her.

“No.” Shaw responded curtly.

“No?” Root tilted her head a little into the pillow, and that was when Shaw’s about had it with Root looking idiotically cute doing anything.

“Stop it.” Shaw told her.

“Stop what?” Root asked seriously this time around.

“Stop making those stupid cute faces.” Shaw said exasperatedly and nearly facepalmed herself when she saw the beginnings of Root’s smile.

“You think I’m cute?” Root asked as she inched closer.

“Ugh. I knew I shouldn’t have said that.” Shaw groaned as she moved her head and looked up towards the ceiling.

“Admit it. You're falling in love with me, Sameen.” the smile in Root’s voice did not escape Shaw. She shut her eyes and tried to block out Root’s words.

“Please. As if I could ever fall in love with anyone.” Shaw’s response further Root’s curiosity and want for her to answer the question.

“We’ve got to talk about this someday, Sameen.” Root put forward. Shaw sighed exasperatedly again and made Root smile even more as she reopened her eyes to look at Root.

“I’m a sociopath, I don’t have feelings.” Shaw lied and Root could see right through it.

“And I’m a reformed killer for hire. We’re perfect for each other, Sameen. You’re gonna figure that out someday.” Root said seriously even though it came off as flirting. Shaw knew that thoughtful expression on Root’s face though, and understood the consequential outcome of admitting that she had feelings for Root. It just surprised Shaw every time how much she could tell that Root loves her through each word and every action and reaction. "I'm going to fall in love with you. You don't have to love me back. But I'm going to give you my heart." she spoke softly to her.

“Yeah, whatever.” Shaw said back after a few seconds before she leaned in and kissed Root. Their kiss didn’t last long, seeing that Root was really tired like she said she was as her eyes begin closing. Shaw knew and backtracked a little to their previous position next to each other. She pulled the covers over the both of them as she tucked Root’s hair behind her and made sure her head was placed comfortably on the pillow. Shaw laid back after switching off all the lights and watched as Root’s even breaths fill the room. The view from the window allowed Shaw to gaze at the city lights from the 32nd floor and she relaxed further into the comforter with the calming sight. Shaw’s eyes followed the silhouette of the figure beside her and observed how innocent Root look while she was asleep. She looked like an angel with elegant femininity emanating from every outline as she slept on her stomach. Shaw’s eyes smiled unknowingly and she knew it was a tremendously sweet moment even for her. How such an implausible emotion can be happening to her right now was becoming increasingly plausible right now, and it really was beyond Shaw’s own understanding of her true personality disorder. She cared. Shaw really cared for this humanoid. She cared so much, it was making her feel sick. But it was a good, emotional, fulfilling sickness. Shaw rolled her eyes at the her own thoughts. She’s been having a lot of these internal discussions with herself lately. The memories she’s shared with Root is golden in her mind. She’s not afraid with Root by her side. She is not afraid to care. She’s not afraid to feel whatever it is she’s feeling for Root. She is adamant to try and be Root’s knight in shining armor if it means Root would stay with her. She would sneak away from missions and have secret rendezvous with Root if that’s what the woman wanted. She’s not afraid. It is the thought of being all those things that scares her. It is the thought of knowing she would sacrifice anything but Root. It is the thought of the decision to sacrifice herself for Root and throw herself into a gunfire-filled hall to press the override button to activate the elevator that scared her. It had scared her then. Now, she’s not so sure. Shaw looked at Root as she twitched a little in her sleep and mumbled jargons Shaw didn’t understand. Shaw smiled as she looked at Root’s peculiarity. Root’s grown on her, and she didn’t mind sacrificing herself for this perfect humanoid.

“Stop watching me sleep.” Root mumbled and it surprised Shaw as she choked on her thoughts. Root reached out her left hand and attempted to grab onto Shaw and pull her closer but failed. When she realize she couldn’t get Shaw to move towards her, Root pretty much moved to lay half on top of Shaw who was more than willing to open her arms and wrap them around Root’s warm body. Shaw pulled up the slipping sheets to Root’s neck to cover the both of them adequately before she let her hands run free on Root’s back. She heard Root’s soft sigh and her snuggling further into Shaw’s neck as she breathed soft breaths against her skin.

“I love you.” Root said sleepily as she continued to snuggle closer into Shaw. She didn’t even flinch at the words because little did Root knew, Shaw would love Root until the sun dies.

“You sure about that?” Shaw half-joked at the partially asleep figure in her arms lying halfway on top of her. Root nodded into Shaw’s neck and sighed sleepily. Shaw then let out a long exhale and pressed a kiss to the top of Root’s head of hair that smelled so sweet and beautiful to her.

“ _Dūset dāram._ ” the words slipped out of her mouth in her native tongue before she could even stop herself. Root only hummed in response and quickly fell asleep again to Shaw’s steady beating heart. It was then Shaw remembered a quote from one of the boring movies Root made her watch of a dying girl with cancer, who fell in love for the first time: “ _I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once_.”

 ****  
  



	4. When Half Of Your Heart Has Yet To Come Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It took me a week to write this chapter in-between studying for midterms and doing homework. I have to add that I didn't get a chance to go over and re-edit it. I hope it is bearable and a good read. Have a nice Sunday! 
> 
> I would also really love to know where all you readers are coming from, if it isn't too much to ask. On the FF site, I can tell where my readers are from but I cannot with the stats on this website. Please do leave a name and city/country if you are able to. I love knowing geographic stats. Thanks so much if you do this! =^__^=
> 
> I'd just also like to add that this video kind-of inspired the heated scene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLuDXyY_vrs 
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Also, Warning: explicit sexual contents in this chapter. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Person of Interest.

Root did her best to quietly open the front door to the apartment with her key and when she succeeded, she was immediately met with darkness and warmth. She carefully closed the door behind her without turning around and then twisted her arm back to lock the door. The heels of her leather boots echoed lowly as she walked across the room to the couch until she sat down on the cushion to take them off. Root's leather jacket came off after and she laid it on the back of the couch before she started making her way to the bedroom. The door was kept ajar and she knew why. It was an old habit of Shaw to always be aware and on high alert. It creaked as she opened the door a little more and she started undressing down to her underwear before pulling on a t-shirt she had left on the chair on her side of the room three days before. It was folded neatly on the seat, even though Root recalled she had just thrown it carelessly onto the chair the morning she had quickly gotten dressed to get to her next mission’s destination. Root walked over to the bed and pulled back the cover before gradually climbing in and felt so glad to finally join the heat underneath. It was like a furnace beneath the comforter and Root was grateful for it after spending most of her last three days outside in the snow. She smiled as Shaw mumbled for Root to keep it down so she can sleep or she'll put a gun to her knee, and that only made Root inch closer to her grumpy former ISA agent and wrapped her left arm around Shaw's middle with ease. As much as Shaw complained, she scooted back into Root's embrace and sighed softly in her sleep. Root moved her right arm under the pillow and closed her eyes, and like every night’s routine, she became greatly aware of how far she and Shaw has come to be where they were now. Root leaned forward and pressed her nose into Shaw’s long tresses and deeply breathed in her scent that she’s come to miss so much over the last few days. Shaw smelled of vanilla and a sort of musky yet aromatic Autumn fragrance. Root breathed out as she buried her face deeper into the nape of Shaw’s neck, causing her body to stir. Root tightened her hold on Shaw, not wanting her to move away, even though Shaw was simply trying to turn around in Root's arm. Root kept her eyes closed as Shaw shifted and then she felt a small kiss at the corner of her mouth. Root smiled as she felt the next kiss on her lips. It was soft and sweet, unlike how most of their lovemaking sessions usually went. She came to know over the last few weeks that Shaw being gentle and tender were just side effects of her sleepiness. Root never minded and always took what she could get from the smaller woman and enjoyed it nonetheless. She breathed through her nose as Shaw turned it into an open mouth kiss and moaned slightly as Shaw's hand moved under her shirt and caressed her side with great care, knowing that Root was punched in the area a week before from another one of the missions the Machine assigned her. Root sighed thinking about how much she's missed this. Their kiss eventually slowed but they kept their hands on each other as Root slowly opened her eyes.

"Hi." Root smiled with a glint in her eyes, but Shaw's sleepy ones returned a slightly amused look. They stared at each other in silence with the moonlight casting over their queen size bed. It used to be a full size but Shaw had went out of her way to upsize the furniture when she realized she and Root didn't have enough personal space when they slept without all of their limbs tangling. Root reached up the hand she had around Shaw and brushed back the long hair from Shaw's neck. Root's hand stayed on Shaw's neck and she let her thumb gently stroke the sensitive part of skin she knew Shaw enjoyed most. Shaw's eyes fluttered almost instantly at the contact and the small uplift at the corner of her mouth made something in Root's chest surge as well. If Shaw could purr, she would've done so at that exact moment. Shaw bit down on her lip to resist the urge to groan at the softest of touch and Root saw it as an invite to brush her lips softly against Shaw's again.

"I love it when you -" Root was suddenly caught off by Shaw's annoyed groan with her head moving to rest under Root's chin and her face in her neck. It was way too late for talking for Shaw. Root chuckled as she put her arm around Shaw again and brought her closer.

"I'm going back to sleep." Shaw said into Root's neck.

"Okay, Sam." Root answered.

"Don't call me that." Shaw said grumpily.

"Alright, Sameen." Root returned softly with a hint of a smirk in her tune. Shaw grunted in response and it was barely a few minutes later before Root heard Shaw’s even breathing again. She relaxed further into the body pressed against her good side and closed her eyes to let herself fall asleep. It didn’t take long seeing how drained of energy she was from her recent mission in Prague that she just returned from. The Machine whispered into ear right before she fell asleep, and a smile painted her lips as she heard Her tell Root that Shaw would be joining her in this next mission.

* * *

“We gotta go.” Root said to Shaw as she stood up from the stool at the bar. Shaw quickly followed the taller brunette and Root held out a hand before Shaw’s connected with hers and Root led the way out through the dancing bodies. They were following a new relevant number, a higher end escort service accountant who had access to a lot of money and a tail on him, not including them of course. Root smiled as she caught a few envious looks from the crowd, knowing exactly how good Sameen looked tonight with her wavy hair half up and how the white dress fitted her so nicely. She was simply perfection in Root’s eyes, and Shaw felt it. Shaw hadn’t paid any attention to the other men and women in the club, and Root smirked at the many of them that got turned down. Occasionally, she’d even lean in and steal a few touches from Shaw but the former ISA agent didn't mind or flinch away from her. Root completely enjoyed the attention as Shaw surveilled the area with her trained eyes but also knew that Shaw kept half of her awareness for her and only her. They looked like two gals taking a break from work to chat at the bar. It was a good cover after all. They made sure to sit on the opposite end of the bar to avoid the accountant’s attention but they stayed in close proximity to the number and played their parts to blend in. Shaw was the least enthused of the two as she soon came to figure out how boring the club scene was even though it was smack-dab in the middle of Miami, Florida. It was a scene they've experienced years before and Shaw was not the least entertained by the terrible Latin music being played and the amateur remixed versions of them. Shaw even smirked once when she thought about probably playing a better mix.

Root and Shaw had just made it near the exit of the club when they saw the number make a sharp right turn going down stairs that were probably missed by a lot of people in the dark. They followed the accountant but left a good distance between them and the number. Shaw let go of Root’s hand much to the hacker’s discontent, and started to guide the both of them through the dark pathway. It wasn’t even a minute later when they stopped at a corner as they heard voices spoke in hushed tones. It was hard to decipher what the two were talking about with the booming noise upstairs, but Shaw and Root quickly moved as they heard footsteps coming their way. They weren’t close enough to the stairs and couldn’t find a closed off space to hide so Shaw did the only thing that came to mind at that second.

Root gasped as she felt herself thrown against the wall with force and blink furiously as Shaw’s lips pressed urgently against hers. Once she quickly processed Shaw’s idea of how to protect their covers, Root closed her eyes and let herself enjoy Shaw’s mouth on hers. She wrapped her arms around Shaw’s neck and pulled her closer up against her body and Shaw groaned into her mouth, which elicited a moan from Root as well. They both heard a snicker nearby that they knew can only belong to the number who passed them by, and Root didn’t miss it as Shaw’s hand travelled down her back and grabbed her buttocks through the tight-fitting dress. She released Shaw’s lips and pulled back, but Shaw followed her movement and continued to kiss her with fervor and avidity. Root smiled against Shaw’s lips and moved her hands to Shaw’s face to guide her away from Root’s lips.

“Sameen, we have a mission.” Root said seriously even though the smile hadn’t left her face one bit. Shaw closed her eyes and tried to regain control of herself before she nodded and stepped back with one hand on her hip and the other one rubbing her forehead. The Machine told Root where the number had gone, and she took Shaw’s hand with ease and pulled her along the hallway and up the stairs again. Root led them out of the club and walked to their borrowed yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. She tossed Shaw the key before heading to the passenger seat. Shaw looked at Root’s figure with an appreciative look as the tall brunette walked with a sway in her hips in her grey mini dress. Root caught Shaw’s lust-filled look and smirked before she opened the car door and got in. Shaw shook her head for a moment and took a deep breath before she opened the driver’s door and get in as well.

Shaw put the car in drive and sped out of the parallel parking spot in a jiffy. Root sat leaning against the car door as she admire Shaw’s toned arms and gorgeous-looking dress. It was a sight to behold. Root smirked as Shaw looked her way for exactly five seconds while speeding at ninety miles per hour on the inside road of the city. Shaw didn’t even tried to hide her desire for Root anymore as she pressed down further on the gas pedal. It was exhilarating for the both of them even though the Machine warned in her ear that Shaw was to make a sharp turn in one thousand feet.

“Make a right in a thousand feet, Sameen.” Root said as she held Shaw’s intense gaze.

“Yes, ma’am.” Shaw said back with brevity and a smirk as she gradually stepped on the brake as she readied herself a quick turn around on the third corner up ahead. Root smiled as Shaw skillfully made the sharp turn with the speed she was going and took out her phone to see the number’s GPS tracker the Machine had downloaded onto her phone. They weren’t far from where the number was and Root told Shaw to slow down and turn her headlights off. Shaw didn’t need Root to tell her to trust her this time around as she did just that and parked near the dock.

“What’s he doing here?” Shaw asked.

“To pick up a large shipment.” shaw noticed that Root answered her with a slight frown. They watched heedfully at the number as he got out of his car, all feelings they had from earlier swept aside. He walked up to three men standing and waiting in a triangle formation with a typical suitcase that would hold a lot of money in one hand as he used his right shake hands with the guy standing in front. They exchanged a few words before the number handed over the suitcase, and unsurprisingly, the case contained about a hundred thousand dollars in cash. The three men look satisfied with the amount and the man in the front took out a burner phone and started dialing. The Machine intercepted the call and Root listened to the conversation about bringing the car over. The two men chatted idly for about five minutes before a white van arrived. The two men standing behind the front man and carrying AK-47 guns went over to the van and open the two doors in the back. Root and Shaw caught a glimpse of the truckload of firearms and their eyes widened a little at the shipment.

“He’s an Australian ISIS supporter posing as an accountant to steal the company’s money and buy firearms for his own terrorist group. He has plans to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.” Root said darkly as the Machine informed her of his activities and connecting how he’s become a relevant number.

“Really? From Miami?” Shaw asked, wondering why he couldn’t have just bought the illegal weapons in New York instead.

“She’s already sent out an alert to the police. They should be here in less than...I’d say ten minutes. In the meantime, She needs us to take out these bad guys before they can escape.” Root continued. Shaw nodded and shook her head as she wonder if they’ve brought enough of their own assault weapons to deal with the four men with a large van full of dangerous firearms of their own.

“Ready?” Shaw asked even though she was already reaching to open the car door.

“Always.” Root said as they both took out their guns and stealthily made their way over to where the men were. Shots went off at the men and Root and Shaw ducked as the number returned fire and hit the car they were hiding behind. Shaw looked up at Root as her back leaned against the car and breathed exhilaratingly. This was more their scene than earlier at the club. Shaw smiled smugly before she stood out from her hiding spot and shoot back at the men. The two carrying AK-47 went down easily and the two remaining were hiding behind the white van. Shaw duck as fires came her way. She breathed out as she leaned against the car and looked over to see that Root was longer with her. Shaw’s heart skipped a beat as she heard shots fired from her right and she sat up a bit to see who was firing away. It was Root of course with a 9mm handgun in each of her hand firing off and walking towards the van fearlessly. Shaw’s face scrunched up immediately and got up quickly and tried to get to Root’s side to help the damn woman for putting herself in the middle of a dangerous gunfire. Root was confident with the Machine speaking in her ear and telling her where to shoot. She heard one of the men scream out as she shot him in the knee and saw him fall from behind the white van. A shot sounded behind her and the number went down just before he was about to shoot her from a blind spot.

“Are you crazy or was your all-knowing God trying to talk you through walking into a certain death?” Shaw fumed as she got to Root and put a hand on her left upper arm to turn her around. Root looked into Shaw’s eyes and felt amazed that this woman with Axis II personality disorder could care about her the way she did. Root did the one thing she knew was right in that moment, and she leaned in and pressed her lips against Shaw’s. Shaw was still upset at Root but gave in after a few seconds as Root dropped her guns and pressed herself further into Shaw. Root pulled away too soon for Shaw’s liking and whispered against her lips, “I love it when you care.” Root stepped away and bent down to pick up her guns, and Shaw rolled her eyes and shook her head at the fearless woman before her. Root went over to the groaning men and picked up the suitcase.

“Thanks for the cash, boys.” Root said as she picked up all of their guns and tucked them under her arm.

“What do you say we treat ourselves out for a nice day on the beach tomorrow?” Root suggested. Shaw was way too interested in the variety of firearms in the back of the van to answer Root. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” Root smiled as she went over to Shaw and watch her pick out some new toys. Shaw looked like she was in a candystore and her eyes lit up like the Fourth of July.

“You have exactly one minute and thirteen seconds before we have a three-minute window to get out of here.” Root informed the former operative. Shaw grinned seeing as she had plenty of time to choose her weapons of choice. Root whispered a thanks to the Machine, now knowing why She paired Shaw with her for this relevant number. Shaw didn’t know it, but the Machine likes her, seeing that she’s just gotten Shaw new guns. Shaw grabbed a few rifles and guns before they headed back over to the yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. Root and Shaw tossed the weapons into the trunk and got into the car. The Machine had already inputted their next destination into the GPS system and Shaw started the engine and zoomed out of the dock quickly. It was barely three minutes later that they heard multiple police sirens in the mile radius. Shaw slowed down and pulled over to the right as they buzzed right past her in the left lane going in the opposite direction towards the dock. Root and Shaw didn’t have to look at each other to know that the other one was smiling as they completed their mission. About fifteen minutes later, Shaw arrived in front of a beach. Shaw’s expression contorted into that of confusion and she turned off the engine. There was a beach party going on not too far away from where they parked, and Shaw’s left eyebrow arched before she turned her head over to Root.

“I don’t know, Shaw. You’re the life of the party and have so much energy. Maybe this is Her way of telling you to let loose.” Root said as a soft smile appeared on her face.

“Fine.” Shaw said after a minute of silence, which surprised Root who thought she would want to get the hell out of the place. She moved to get out of the car, but Root laid a hand on her right forearm to stop her. Root moved her hand behind Shaw’s head and pulled the hair tie out of her, letting her wavy tresses fall out. Shaw gave her a pointed look and moved to get out of the car again, and this time Root didn't stop her. Shaw ran her hands through her hair to fix it and Root put the hair tie in the cup holder before getting out of the car. She went to undo the straps to her heels and then close the car door.

“I think we should leave these in the car.” Root said as she lifted the pair of heels she had up midair as Shaw started to get out of her pumps. They tossed the shoes into the car’s trunk before closing it. When their toes finally touched the sand after walking together across the gravelly pavement, they both breathed out low sighs. The waves were crashing gently against the shore and the midnight air smelled like the ocean. Singing and firewood crackling in the distance filled the background noise, and Root took advantage of the distraction to lace her hand with Shaw’s. She bit down her bottom lip as she anticipated for the smaller woman to get away from her, but when Shaw didn't let go, Root cheerfully led the both of them away from the party and more towards the quiet area to the left. Seagulls made calling sounds in the far distance and Shaw relaxed after a few minutes of walking with their toes digging into wet sand. She stopped Root with her hand after a while by pulling her back and moved away from where the small tidal waves were nearly reaching them. When they were a good six feet away from the wet sand, Shaw pulled Root down to sit with her on the dry shore. Root stretched out her legs and wiggled her sand covered toes before she leaned back on her two hands while Shaw sat with her legs straightened and crossed at the ankle. Shaw was leaning forward a little with a little bent in her knees and had let her hands stay in her lap. Root took a moment to turn her head to the right and look at Shaw’s long tresses blowing lightly in the wind behind her. It was rather peaceful where they were sitting, and the two didn't mind the silence in between them. They both closed their eyes and breathed in the ocean air, relaxing themselves and feeling at peace for once. It's been a long time since Shaw has been so at ease outside the comfort of her home. It kind of made sense in a way. Her home was right there with her, sitting and so trustingly relaxed by her side. Shaw zoned out on the waves as she thought about how Root had become so annoying that all she did was want to kiss her all the time. Shaw was careful to control herself when they were out on missions or anywhere public. Root was consistently affectionate but careful with her too even when they were in private. Root was always making a move on her in public and flirty per usual, but she pretty much flirted with anyone. It didn’t bother Shaw because the way that Root flirted with her was different. Shaw was really too relaxed and distracted by her thoughts to even notice Root get off both of her hands and move closer to her, putting her arm around Shaw’s middle in the back. Shaw stiffened at the sudden touch but immediately relaxed as soon as she realized it was only Root.

“A little warning next time would be nice.” was all that Shaw said.

“I live to amuse.” Root smiled as she noticed no resistance from Shaw as she pulled her closer and enjoyed the closeness. Root’s right hand moved up and down Shaw’s side and caress her through the material of her white dress, and she reveled in the feeling of having Shaw so near and being able to touch her freely. Shaw secretly enjoyed Root’s touch too, but she didn’t let it show on her face. Instead, she just continued looking on at the ocean waves. Of course, Root didn’t allow her to stare at boring ocean waves forever, and she felt the hand under her chin trying to turn Shaw’s head towards her. Their faces were barely inches apart and Shaw felt a small knot forming in the pit of her stomach as it always does when they were in this kind of position.

“What?” Shaw asked stoically, even though she felt a little excited by their proximity. Root smiled and bit down on her bottom lip as she stared back into Shaw’s eyes, wondering how she could still be so sexy with that killer look. Her gaze momentarily dropped down to Shaw’s lips and she took in a breath before tilting her head and slowly lean in. Shaw continued to stare at Root’s downward gaze at her lips and she could feel herself almost grinning but she tried to keep her face in resting mode. When Root’s lips finally connected with Shaw’s after a million years, Shaw closed her eyes and took pleasure in her soft cherry tasting lips. Root slowly pulled an inch away from Shaw’s lips and Shaw opened her eyes to see Root watching her. Smiling a soft smile at her.

“What?” Shaw asked again but softly this time. Root’s eyes fluttered a little at Shaw’s tone and exhaled a breath before the both of them came together again and this time making it a little more heated than the last kiss. Root moaned as Shaw parted her lips and her tongue dart forward into Root’s mouth to taste the rest of her. Root moved her hand behind Shaw from her side to the back of her neck and pulled her closer as her left hand lifted up to caress the side of Shaw’s face. Shaw moved a hand behind Root to hold and keep her steady as their lips moved in a dance only they knew. Shaw couldn’t help it when her right hand went to rest on Root’s thigh and brush lightly against the skin. Root leaned forward more and kissed Shaw with so much passion, Shaw couldn’t control her thoughts from wandering as she imagined stripping Root out of her dress in her mind. Shaw’s right hand instinctively travelled upward and beneath Root’s dress and she heard Root gasped as she stroked her inner thigh. Shaw trailed kisses from Root’s mouth down to her jaw and over her neck, not letting the intimate strokes on her thigh lessen any bit. Root breathed out uneven breaths and kept her eyes open towards the fire camp on the other side for any intruder as Shaw worked her sweet and slow ministrations on Root.

“ _Sameen_.” Root breathed as Shaw bit down on a sensitive part between her neck and shoulder. Shaw hummed a little at her as she ran her tongue over the bruised skin she’d bitten to soothe it.

“Let’s get out of here.” Shaw said as she heard the loud party in the far distance and lifted her head and got to Root’s eye level. Root nodded slowly and pulled Shaw in for another kiss after seeing the intention in her eyes, moaning when Shaw bit down on her bottom lip teasingly. They parted after and stood up, brushing sand off their dresses and skin. Root and Shaw walked together in silence towards the car and they both didn't even bother to retrieve their shoes in the back of the trunk. Shaw slid into the driver’s seat and switched the engine on as Root got in and start pulling the seat belt across her body. Once Shaw backed out of the parking lot and got onto the main road, Root took out her phone and decided to record her.

“What do you think you're doing?” Shaw asked with annoyance in her voice.

“Making memories.” Root responded cheekily as Shaw rolled her eyes and tried to swipe for the phone with her right hand.

“Hey, I was using that.” Root whined as Shaw ended the video.

“Don't care.” Shaw said nonchalantly as she watched the short video on Root’s phone while driving. “Hmm. I _do_ look pretty good.” Shaw smirked before she tossed the phone over onto Root’s lap. Root just shook her head and replayed the video, jumping with glee inside that Shaw hadn't deleted the video. It would be the first of many, Root silently promised herself that. It was about a fifteen minutes drive before they got to a hotel with underground parking. Shaw was a little hesitant to hand over the keys to the car to the valet boy at first because of the weapons stash in the back of the car, but the Machine spoke in Root’s ear and assured that nothing would happen to Shaw’s new toys. Root took the keys out of Shaw’s hand and toss it to the valet boy who barely caught it with his average reflex, and they walk into the hotel to go up to their luxurious suite. They stood in silence in the elevator as it went up to the forty-second floor. Shaw was looking up at the ceiling impatiently and Root was smirking at the doors.

“I want a steak.” Shaw said out of the blue as the elevator had just gotten past the thirtieth floor.

“We can always call room service.” Root suggested as she thought about what she wants to have with Shaw’s steak. She got a hum in response and stepped out of the elevator shaft when it reached their floor. Root took the key card out of the slot in her phone case and slipped it into the keyhole to unlock the door. Shaw closed the door behind her and took the pumps off to walk barefoot into the living room. Root’s voice was coming from the bedroom ordering food for the both of them and Shaw took the moment to get out of her dress and walk in the room. Root’s gaze followed her like a hawk and she smirked as Shaw unclasp the back of her bra before the undergarment slid down her arms and tossed onto the bed.

“Yes, that's correct. I'd also like a bottle of champagne.” Root spoke calmly into the phone as she stare at Shaw walking over to the bathroom in just her underwear. She heard water running when the man on the phone asked her if she needed anything else after repeating her order once again.

“No, that'll do. Can you send it up in half an hour?” Root asked. After receiving an affirmative from the serviceperson over the phone, Root put the phone down and started unzipping the side of her dress and getting out of it before slipping off her heels. She undid her bra and left it on the bed next to Shaw's before she started heading for the bathroom as well. Root wasn't disappointed when she found the woman under the shower head with water cascading down her toned body so wonderfully. Root slipped out of her underwear and let it fall to the floor as she opened the glass door to the shower and joined Shaw under the sprays of water. She moved in from behind the Persian beauty and wrapped her arms around Shaw's middle before both hands slowly trailed to her beautiful breasts. Shaw leaned her head back onto Root’s shoulder and Root began massaging her breasts while her mouth connected with Shaw’s right shoulder. Shaw exhaled a nice even breath at the attention and slowly turned around in Root’s arms. Root used her hands to brush Shaw’s hair back behind her and out of her face before leaning in to steal a slow kiss. Shaw did the same to Root and allowed her hands to slide down Root’s sides, pulling her closer as their wet bodies collided. The sand from earlier fell to the shower floor and flowed down the drain as the two women caressed and kissed each other for the next ten minutes. Root moaned as Shaw’s hands reached behind and squeezed her butt cheeks, running her fingers so close to her core and making her feel incredibly aroused.

“Sam, _please_.” Root begged as her fingers moved close to Root’s entrance as she continued stroking her butt cheeks and reaching further towards her core every time. Shaw pulled back from her kiss with Root and looked into her eyes only to see lust in them. That was all she needed as she reached behind to turn off the water and moved to pick Root up, Root’s legs instantaneously wrapped around her hips. Root looked at Shaw excitedly as she carried her into the bedroom and put her down on the bed with care. Their hairs and bodies were still wet but neither of them cared as their lips connected again in a deep kiss. Root arched her back and smile as Shaw began to kiss down her body and did not tease. Shaw kissed the top of her knee before moving up and kissing the inner part of her thighs, enjoying the build up as Root writhed and clutched the white sheets in her hands. Shaw glanced up for a second to watch the lustful expression on Root’s face again before she spread her open and brought her tongue against Root’s most intimate parts. The taste was inviting and that only of Root, and Shaw closed her eyes as she focused on Root’s breathing and reaction to every stroke of her tongue. Root came apart at Shaw’s ministration on her and let out soft moans as her head twisted to the side, biting on her lip as she reveled in the feeling of how close she and Shaw were. Shaw moved her mouth over Root’s clit and took the bundle of nerves into her mouth as Root’s back arched up again and she moaned louder this time around. Root released her hold on the sheets and moved her hands to Shaw’s head, urging her on and to keep going. Shaw surprised Root and entered her with two digits as she continued drinking in all that was Root and making her feel a tingly sensation all over.

“ _Sameen_ …” Root moaned hoarsely. “ _I'm so close_ ,” she breathed in short breaths as she dug her nails into the back of Shaw’s scalp. Shaw hissed at the pain but found pleasure in it that drove her to suck harder and curl her fingers more inside of Root to angle it at the spot she loves most.

“ _Oh_ …oh Sameen…” Root’s cry for her to keep going prompted Shaw to move faster and harder in all of her movements on Root.

“ _Augh!_ ” Root cried out as her eyes shut closed and her mouth slowly widened at the orgasm that was slowly creeping onto her and consuming her wholly as it finally ripped through her body. Her back had arched off the bed again as she pressed herself further into Shaw’s face and Shaw didn't mind as she continued lapping at Root’s core and helping her ride out her orgasm. Root’s body finally went limp after ten seconds and she breathed heavily as sweat gathered around her forehead. Root brought her hands up and one arm covered her eyes while the other was on top of her head resting on the pillow. Her legs laid limp and straighten as Shaw continued stroking her inside slowly and carefully removing her fingers. Shaw sat up on her knees and look at Root with a smirk while she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Root seemed to notice that Shaw was watching her so she removed her forearm from her eye and look at the women sitting in-between her legs, watching her with an amused expression before she went to lie next to her.

“Where's my steak?” Shaw asked as Root playfully shoved her before cuddling into her side. Shaw moved an arm around Root’s neck and she placed the other behind her head as she looked up towards the ceiling. She felt Root’s fingers playing with her right breast and slowly snake down her stomach before resting on her. Swift fingers moved as they felt for Shaw’s slickness and caused her eyes to close.

“Is that all you want, Sameen?” Root’s voice purred in her right ear as she continued stroking her clit teasingly.

“Yeah.” Shaw breathed out as her hips slowly arched up to meet Root’s touch. Root smiled and moved her fingers away from her clit and stroked her entrance up and down and then in circles.

“Root.” Shaw said with a threatening voice and Root smirked as she knew she had her.

“Tell me what you want.” Root whispered in her ear. Shaw groaned and turned to look at her for a long minute, both not stepping down from the intensity of the stare.

“Tell me what you need.” Root said sultrily.

“I _want_ you to fuck me. _Now_.” Shaw demanded.

“That's all I wanted to hear.” Root said as she pushed two fingers into Shaw easily. Shaw groan at the intrusion and savor every bit of the way Root’s fingers filled her up. Shaw moved in and pressed her mouth against Root and it turned into an open-mouth kiss pretty quickly. Root fastened the pace and curled her fingers at the right point, bringing Shaw rapidly near the edge. Root smiled against Shaw’s mouth as she felt how quick Shaw was coming undone beneath her, twisting and turning to get just that right pressure to where she wants Root’s fingers to be. Root couldn’t deny that she loved holding Shaw off every once and a while to see how she’d thrash in her arms and not being able to control the heat that was forming in the pit of Shaw’s stomach.

“Root.” Shaw groaned as Root continued to draw out Shaw’s build-up and not letting her climax. Root finally relented and helped Shaw reach her peak, quickening her fingers and putting just the right amount of pressure on where she knew Shaw loves. Shaw came in less than a minute later as she bit down hard on her bottom lip leading up to when she couldn’t anymore. Her mouth opened wide, breathing stilled for a few seconds before she let out a deep breath and shook with the orgasm that took over her body for the next minute. Root ran her tongue over Shaw’s bottom lip to soothe it, and she scattered small kisses along her jawline and pressed a last kiss to her forehead before moving back. Shaw and Root lay side by side in silence, the only sound apparent were their breathings and the knock on their hotel room door five minutes later.

“I’ll get it.” Root said as she headed to the bathroom to grab two bathrobes, tossing one to Shaw as she slipped one on and tied the strings in front of her. Shaw watched with a smirk on her face before Root ran her hand through her hair and disappeared into the other room. Shaw sat up and got off the bed to slip on the robe Root’s tossed her way. She didn’t want to risk anybody else seeing her bare form. Shaw went to the bathroom, switched on the lights, and picked up a brush to run it through her hair a few times. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, not really recognizing the person she saw anymore. The woman she was staring at looked too relaxed, eyes colored of a chocolate brown instead of the black hole that bore into the back of her mind, and skin too flushed in comparison to the usual tan she had. Shaw exhaled a breath and dropped her gaze to the sink. She shook her head while a small grin slowly grew on her lips. Root’s smiley attribute was rubbing off on her too.

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re a psychopath scheming a dangerous plot with her own reflection.” Root smirked as her arms encircled Shaw’s waist and pressed their bodies together in a solid mold causing Shaw to hold onto the edge of the bathroom counter to steady herself.

“I’m gonna kick your ass if you keep talking.” Shaw said as she looked up and stared into Root’s eyes in the mirror.

“Hmm. I think I’d enjoy that very much.” Root teased as she untie the front loop in front of Shaw and unveiled the woman’s bare body. Root bit down on her bottom lip as she ran her fingers softly over Shaw’s well-defined abdomen and pressed her nails against her skin, creating soft pink trails across her stomach. Shaw closed her eyes at the contact and Root leaned forward to kiss the nape of her neck.

“It’s dinner time, Sam.” Root whispered before pulling away and leaving Shaw to glare at her in the mirror. Root stepped out of the bathroom as quickly as she came in and sauntered over to the bed to pull the wet cover off and drop it onto the floor. Shaw came out of the bathroom and didn’t bother to question what Root was doing and went to the living room to devour her portion of steak. Shaw was surprised to find a table in the middle of the living room that the room service people had brought up with a white tablecloth and everything. She sat down in one of the chairs before she started uncovering all the plates that were placed neatly on the table. She found her steak amongst the various items and dug in immediately. It was cooked medium-rare just how Shaw liked it and she wondered how long it’s taken Root to notice that it was her preferred steak doneness. It was pretty juicy and good, but not as good as the filet in St. Louis. Shaw chewed with precision as she tasted the flavors and wished they’d rub more herbs and butter on it. She shrugged and let it go. As long as she got some protein, that was all that mattered to her at the end of the day. Root came out of the bedroom a few minutes later in a grey t-shirt and red and black plaid pajama pants, making Shaw quirk an eyebrow at her.

“She has some work for me to do. It might take all night.” Root simply said as she pushed the glasses back up the bridge of her nose to keep it from sliding. She sat down across from Shaw and piled a decent amount of sesame broccoli, a filet of tilapia fish, and egg whites into her plate. Shaw’s face contorted into that of disapproval as she cut a slice of steak and hesitantly put it up mid-air.

“Give me your plate.” Shaw demanded as Root looked at her oddly.

“I don’t want to consume any red meat, Sam.” Root said in return.

“I don’t care. Hand it over.” Shaw said with a blank face  as Root frowned but gave the plate to her anyway. Shaw took half of her fish and put a third of steak she had onto Root’s place. “Eat.” she commanded as she put the plate back down in the middle of the table. Root reached to grab her plate again and the frown disappeared as she glanced up at Shaw when she forked some egg whites into her mouth. Shaw had an unpleasant expression on her face before it twisted into a neutral one seconds later after she took a bite of Root’s fish. Root and Shaw ate in silence and basked in each other’s company even though they didn’t show as much of it as they felt.

Root moved to the armchair facing the window view afterwards with her laptop as she sipped on the glass of champagne Shaw opened and poured for the both of them. She hacked into the security system the Machine had told her to do, turned off the alarm system, and put in a long code for Lionel to get into the secured building undetected. As she sipped on the champagne and typed quickly, Shaw had gone back into the bedroom to put on a tank top and sleeping shorts before she came back and sat cross legged on the furniture in the living room quietly reading a book called The Guns of August, which goes into great details of the opening events of World War I. They stayed up until about 4am, one reading a volume of warfare history and the other one helping Lionel get through the building safely to take out an irrelevant number. When Root closed her laptop and set it on the table in front of the furniture that Shaw was sitting on, the smaller woman look up at her and close her book.

“You didn’t have to wait for me.” Root said as she sat down next to Shaw facing her and one leg bent at the knee, head resting in her right hand as her elbow rested at the top of the furniture.

“I wasn’t.” Shaw said with a blank face. “I was reading.” Shaw explained.

“Keep telling yourself that, Sweetie.” Root teased as she reached up with her left hand to brush the strands of Shaw’s hair out of her face, running her hand through her long tresses and pulling it back behind her. Shaw closed her eyes in frustration at the affectionate gesture and decided not to fight Root on it. Root moved her hand to the back of Shaw’s head and pulled the Persian beauty towards her. Their lips met in a sensual and slow kiss and Shaw didn’t resist when Root flicked her tongue at the entrance to Shaw’s mouth and let her in easily. They kissed for a few moments, enjoying physical contact again after a few hours. When they both pulled away, Root and Shaw noticed each other’s exhaustion and stood up from the couch and moved to the bedroom where clothes were still scattered all over the floor and the cover was dumped on the floor at the end of the bed. Root and Shaw went to brush their teeth, Shaw staying in the bathroom while Root brushed her teeth as she went to pick up their clothings on the floor and tossed them onto the chair in the corner of the room. When Shaw stepped out of the bathroom after she was finished, Root went in and rinsed her mouth before flossing. After they were done getting ready for bed, Shaw pulled another set of comforter out of the hotel closet and Root helped her make the bed. They climbed into the bed and Root turned off the lamp on her side of the bed, whereas Shaw kept hers on and sat against the headboard reading the book from earlier. Root took off her glasses and set it on the night table on her side before she scooted closer to Shaw but turned so her back was facing her. Shaw read for about another half an hour before she felt her eyes growing heavy and decided to put the book down and switch the light off. She slid down into the bed and moved the comforter to cover Root more. Root had turned around in her sleep while Shaw was reading and now she was facing her and felt her heavy breathing. Root muttered something inaudible in her sleep and it made Shaw grin as she kept her hands to herself, one under the pillow and another under her head. Shaw closes her eyes and sleep took over almost immediately.

Sunlight crept into the room three hours later, waking the two figures tangled together underneath the sheets. Root groaned as she turned her body to face away from the gleaming brightness. Shaw shifted as well and draped her arm over Root who muttered something about being cold. Shaw reached for the blanket without opening her eyes and covered the both of them before moving closer into Root’s warmth.

The Machine went through one thousand three hundred and sixty-four options before contacting Harold about a relevant number to give Her analog interface and asset some rest. Harold’s ears perked up as She spoke to him and told him through his computer to look into an assassin currently located in Prussia.

In the luxurious Miami hotel room, Root and Shaw slept until past noon, completely unaware that Harold and Reese were already on a flight to Prussia to help them with their new number. The Machine had booked their flights for that night and stayed quiet as they slept till they were finally fully rested.

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	5. New Covers

“God dammit, can’t you take one and a half minutes out of your goddamn day and pick up your stuff, Root?” Shaw said as she walked around the room to gather the various pieces of clothing thrown onto the floor from five minutes earlier. Root hurried to get dressed, quickly buttoning her light blue blouse from bottom to top as Shaw got out of the shower, and came into their bedroom to find a big mess at the end of their bed. This was not how Shaw wanted to start her day. She sighed as she dropped the clothes onto their bed to fold later.

“I’m late for work, Shaw.” Root said quickly as she pulled on some sheer pantyhose with a bit of lace just at the top of her thighs. Shaw stood near their shared walk-in closet, wrapped in just a cream towel, and rested her hands on her hips as she gave Root a questioning look.

“Your fake job.” Shaw reminded her. “And what’s with the sexy office assistant look?” she asked as she ran her fingers through her wet hair. “I thought you were supposed to be a data manager or something.” Shaw said as she walked into the closet and pull out the scrubs. She had a job too. She was supposed to be playing a trauma doctor today. It was her first day of work as well. Shaw let the towel drop to the floor before putting on a plain black bra and matching panties. The scrub pants came next and a white long sleeve after, finished with the top scrub. She picked up the towel and exited the closet to find Root still struggling to get her grey pencil skirt and black pumps on. Shaw shook her head and went to blow dry her hair in the bathroom after putting the wet towel on the hook behind the door. Right as she was about done drying her hair, Root slipped in looking all sexy in the professional-looking blazer and moved in to kiss her right cheek.

“Have a good day at work, Sameen.” Root said before she gave Shaw another peck on the lips and exited the room. Shaw simply rolled her eyes in response and started to put on light makeup to cover her tired countenance. She heard the front door shut closed and went on to put some concealer around her eyes. She came back to the room and shook her head at the mess on the bed. Shaw decided to hang the clothes and put them away anyway since she still had an hour before she had to leave for her new job. After she was done with putting away the dresses and shirts Root had unnecessarily pulled out, she went to the kitchen and grinned when she saw a pot of hot coffee already made. At least Root was useful in that department, she thought as she forgave the woman for the disorder she caused earlier.

An hour later, Shaw was standing near the nursing station with another attending going on and on about protocols and hospital policies. She fingered the stethoscope inside the right pocket of her white coat as she pretended to listen. It was the most boring first day so far for the high-skilled kneecapping gal. The hospital’s chief was nowhere in plain sight and Shaw shook her head, displeased with having to deal with one of the younger ducklings. An alarm suddenly went off as the younger attending was in the middle of talking about some trauma doctor on maternal leave, and someone yelled out a “Code Black!” Shaw’s eyes widened at already being in the middle of a storm as everyone rushed to the exit. Code Black usually meant a bomb scare, and Shaw immediately called Harold about it.

“Harold, what the hell is going on? Why is there a bomb in the hospital?” Shaw half yelled and half whispered into ear piece as she turned away from the attending guiding more people out of the hospital.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, Miss Shaw. There appears to be a bomb threat.” Harold’s voice carried to her aural device.

“No shit.” Shaw said as she watched more people evacuated the hospital. There was a lot of yelling, but complete quietness overtook Shaw’s mind as she looked at the tall grey building in front of her.

“False alarm! False alarm! It was a false alarm! Everybody, calm down!” an older man in a white coat like herself came running out. Shaw heard Harold’s sigh of relief and let out one of her own as well but it was more quiet and subtle. People around her exhaled audible breaths of alleviation and started to move back into the hospital. Shaw stood outside for some air and she was suddenly approached by the older man who informed everyone that the code was a false alarm.

“You must be Dr. Gray.” he said with a loose grin at the corner of his mouth. Shaw nodded and stepped forward when he reached out his hand. She took his hand and shook it with a firm grip and he tilted his head to the side and looked to be forming a judgment of her.

“I’m Dr. Jameson. So, you’ve work in trauma before?” the new irrelevant number asked her.

“Yes, sir.” she responded. He moved his hand to gesture for them to walk back into the hospital and she let him lead the way. The number continued to question her on the experiences she’s had and double-check her background to see if any of the things she said mismatched what was on paper. If Shaw knew any better, which she did, she’d bet with all her money that he’s gone to call her supposedly last three workplaces. The man seems to be thorough, and annoying, much to Shaw’s distaste. She was finally left alone after he went over the hospital protocols with her again and even added he’d see her again for lunch. She groaned at the thought of having to sit and eat with him. There wasn’t much to do in the trauma room. It was a slow day.

Lunch was a drag. Shaw had to sit with not only the hospital’s chief but every terrible ass licker there could possibly be at the round table of twelve seats. They all had intentions and needs. Shaw was so tempted to roll her eyes at everything that rolled off their tongues, and she ate in silence as the other attending physicians humored the chief. She felt the guy sitting to her left getting a bit too close for her comfort, and Shaw secretly promised she’d stick the plastic fork she was using into his right thigh if he inched any closer. After lunch, that creepy attending followed her to the locker room and asked her where she’s transferred from. He tried to blend in with the other physicians as some of them walked together to the locker room, but Shaw knew it was calculated and she became wary of the sicko as she grabbed another bottle of water from her locker and pretended to check her phone. She saw that Root had texted her.

 

_**Root: How’s your new job? ;)**_

_**Shaw: Annoying.** _

 

Shaw responded as she used the data search system Root helped put on her phone. She searched up a Joshua Whiteman as she barely glanced up to look at his hospital badge to be sure. Nothing weird came up, except two allegations of sexual harassment from a registered nurse and a surgical resident but both cases were dropped and only paper trail of the emailed claims stayed in the hospital’s data system. Shaw shook her head and looked up again to find him staring at her in a concealed lecherous way in the mirror he had behind his locker’s door. She pointedly gave him a blank stare in return to not reveal what she knew about him. His eyes narrowed slightly as he analyzed her and looked away immediately as he pretended to brush his long wavy hair and then put some sort of cream onto his face. Shaw rolled her eyes just as her phone vibrated in her hands. Root had texted her back and Shaw shook her head at the text as a slight grin grew on her face.

 

**_Root: I thought you love playing doctor. ;)_ **

**_Shaw: No. It’s you who love it when I play doctor. *inserts annoyed emoji*_ **

 

Shaw pressed the Send button after typing a quick response and took a sip of the water before she leaned against the locker and look at the pervert’s personal history.

 

**_Root: I got off work early._ **

**_Shaw: That’s not fair. *inserts annoyed emoji*_ **

 

She responded quickly to Root’s text. She and Root had an understanding, and what they had didn’t involve any kind of mind game. She’s always been the type to be prompt and she’s still learning how to communicate with Root even though they understand each other better than anyone else. Shaw held a pensive expression as she thought of Root going home and enjoying the rest of her day off. She wished she could be home with Root. Or go to a shooting range. Maybe getting to shoot someone in the knees would be more like her kind of day with or without Root. Her phone started to vibrate but it didn’t stop. She watched Root’s perky face come onto the screen and shook her head as she answered the call.

“What do you want, Banana Nut Crunch?” Shaw asked instantly.

“I was wondering if I could stop by your workplace. You know, to help you with your cover. Play the role of your better half.” Root said with a smirk in her tone.

“No.” Shaw answered shortly.

“I wasn’t asking.” Root said with a finality in her voice that rung with excitement into Shaw’s ear.

“Fine.” Shaw said curtly into the phone even though she secretly wanted some company other than these pretentious, boring doctors. It was a good thing she still had about thirty minutes of her break left.

“Good. I’m in the front, Sweetie.” Root said over the phone.

“Of course you are.” Shaw said, her voice dripping with some sarcasm. “I’ll be out in a sec.” Shaw continued before she hung up her phone and closed her locker.

“Getting back to work?” Joshua Whiteman asked. Shaw eyed him for two seconds before she shook her head and left the room, leaving the attending physician standing there confused with white cream on his face.

Shaw walked at a normal pace from the locker room, down the stairs, and finally went outside to see Root sitting on the bench and typing something into her phone. Shaw smiled when she successfully snuck up on Root. It felt pretty good to do that, and she knew the Machine wasn’t talking into Root’s implant. It was probably the most fun she’s had all day. The Machine has learn to keep quiet when it was just the two of them recently. It was a new thing. Shaw sat down a foot away from Root, and the taller woman rolled her eyes at her and pulled her by the arm to move closer. Shaw gave in and sat next to her as Root went back to her phone and then said something about hacking into the company’s servers to Jason Greenfield as Root addressed him by his first name. She had a bluetooth headset in her left ear, since she can’t hear anymore in her right ear where Control took out one of the conductive bones behind her ear four years prior. She mainly uses her right ear to have a direct connection with the Machine where the cochlear implant had to be done in order to make that possible. She called it the heart of the Machine. Shaw sat in silence with her legs crossed, looking at the trees around them with no leaves. It wasn’t Spring yet, but it was getting there. Shaw sucked in her cheeks as she breathed in and out deeply. She still had seven more hours at the hospital and there was nothing going on with the new number as far as she can tell. Harold was keeping an eye on him and the number was currently sitting in his office doing paperwork.

“Did you miss me?” Root whispered into Shaw’s right ear next. The corners of Shaw’s mouth turned downward for a second and Root playfully planted a soft kiss behind her ear.

“Root.” Shaw said sternly as she became slightly aroused and warned Root that they were currently in public. Shaw turned her head to face Root as she put both of her hands into the white coat’s pockets. Root was gazing at her with a mischievous look in her eyes. Shaw didn’t know what she had planned, but she didn’t think appreciated the sudden appearance of the pervy doctor again.

“Hello?” he said awkwardly as he tried to look casual and cool. He took out a cigarette and gesture towards it, making an excuse for himself to be outside of the hospital. Shaw rolled her eyes as Root stood up and introduced herself as Samantha Groves. Shaw didn’t like the way he was staring at Root. She despised it more than the looks he was giving her earlier in the locker room. Root sat back down next to Shaw, and the former ISA agent protectively wrapped her right arm around Root’s shoulders and bringing her close. She felt Root stilled and then relax into her, probably wondering what was up with the affectionate act.

“Ah…” the doctor said as though he started putting two and two together about them. Root took Shaw’s left hand into her hands and placed them onto her lap, right between where the pencil skirt end and her lacy stockings began.

“Do you need something?” Shaw’s tensed voice let him know his company wasn’t appreciated there.

“No, I’ll be over _there_ if you need anything. And I mean it. _Anything_.” he winked before walking over to the smoking area to the right of the hospital’s entrance.

“He seems nice.” Root commented as he walked away from them. Shaw huffed and then proceeded to remove her arm from around Root’s shoulders. She retracted her hand from Root’s warm ones too and glared daggers at the attending physician from across the courtyard.

“Far from it. He’s a pervert.” Shaw spat out as she crossed her arms across her chest. “My break ends in twenty.” Shaw informed Root as she pulled Root up by the hand and started to lead her into the hospital, ignoring the pervy doctor’s stare.

“Where are we going?” Root ask confused as she was pulled along by Shaw. The hacker ran a hand through her hair to remove the flying strands from her face, and Shaw pressed the elevator button as they stopped in front of the lift.

“On-call room.” Shaw said nonchalantly as a smile grew on Root’s face. They stepped into the elevator after the doors slid open and Root bit down on a smirk as she looked up. Shaw hope the on-call room she saw on her way down from the third floor earlier was a single bed. As they got off the elevator, Shaw took Root’s hand and made a right turn into a smaller hallway and then went to open the second door on the left. She opened the door and yanked Root into the room before closing it swiftly and locking the door.

“Sweetie, I know we’re short on time but there’s no need to rush like this.” Root said as she put two hands on each of Shaw’s shoulder. Shaw tilted her head and glanced down at the pale hand on her right shoulder for a second. She shrugged Root’s hands off and went to sit down on the bed and take out her phone to see if the number has moved from his spot. He hadn’t yet. Root was put off by Shaw’s reaction, wondering why she was hot one moment and cold the next. She decided to take a seat to Shaw’s right and looked over at the screen to see what kept the other woman so focused. Root cleared her throat a little and Shaw looked up to see what she wanted. Root was looking at her expectantly.

“What?” Shaw asked.

“You brought me in here to just sit in the on-call room?” Root ask confused again.

“Well, yeah.” Shaw said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Root didn’t understand and decided to take the phone out of Shaw’s hand and put it on the table beside the single-bed.

“Really?” Root said as she looked down at Shaw and moved in to kiss her.

“Really.” Shaw whispered against her lips once they were connected. Root pulled back and pouted.

“Why?” Root decided to ask as she crossed her legs flirtatiously in front of Shaw and sat back with her upper body weight on her two hands.

“Because…” Shaw drawl out as she narrowed her eyes to see if she should say why.

“Impatiently waiting, Sameen.” Root said as she stared at Shaw with a playful hunger gaze in her eyes.

“Look, that creep was looking at us weird. I didn’t want him trying anything. I’d be tempted to kneecap him, so I figured the probability of his kneecaps getting blown up would be a lot lower if I’m in here.” Shaw spoke looking at the door, never sparing Root a glance during her explanation. When Root thought she was done explaining, the highly intelligent hacker got off her hands and leaned forward just as Shaw decided to turn her head to face Root. “And today’s my mom’s birthday.” Shaw said with raw honesty in her eyes. Root couldn’t spot a hint of sadness because she looked deep enough. Root had to stare at Shaw in surprise for the confession though, because she knew how hard it must be for Shaw to talk about it and not feel anything close to the sadness any other normal person would feel if they were in the same position as Shaw was. It was part of her line of work. Their line of work to be specific, even though Root didn’t have any surviving, living, breathing relative left in this world.

“Sameen, I’m --” Root didn’t get to finish her sincerest apology.

“ _Don’t_.” Shaw cut her off but didn’t say it with a sharp tone like Root expected from her. She didn't want her sympathy. Shaw sighed as she lowered her gaze to the ground and stared down at the bottom scrubs she was wearing. Before she left for the Marines and then was declared dead from getting caught in the middle of a crossfire, her mom was a proud mother of a hospital resident going on to become a doctor. After being talked down to by the chief resident who said she would never become a doctor, Shaw quickly enlisted in the U.S. Army and sat down across her crying mother who incessantly asked why she was throwing her whole life away. Their whole life away. Shaw had a love hate relationship with playing doctor some of the times. She love that she could do what she was best at, but at the same time, she hate how the prestigious job made her feel so rejected and reminded her of that day when the chief resident sat her down and told her that everything she’s worked for was sinking down the drain. Just like that.

“She’s safe.” Shaw said still looking down. Root understood what she meant by that. Her mother was safe and that’s all she cared about. Her safety took priority over everything, and Shaw accepted that her mother has to carry on with the knowledge that she’s dead and gone for good. Root wrapped her arms around Shaw from the side and Shaw let Root embrace her. She didn’t hug her back. She just sat there and Root leaned her forehead against the side of Shaw’s head. Shaw’s pager went off at the most inopportune moment. They both got up from the bed and Root straightened out her skirt as Shaw wrapped the stethoscope back onto her neck.

“I’ll see you at home.” Shaw said softly, almost out of character but she only reserve some tender moments for Root.

“Okay, I’ll be making duck breast with a blueberry sauce for dinner.” Root smiled lightly.

“Okay.” Shaw said, ending their conversation. She looked at Root for a long moment before hesitantly leaning in to give her a peck on the cheek but Root purposefully turned her face right about then and caught her lips instead. Their kiss lingered for a few seconds before they both pulled away with grins on their faces. Shaw open the door for Root to step out first, but she quickly pulled Root back into Shaw’s body as she nearly bumped into Joshua Whiteman. He coughed and moved aside, pretending to have walked by and look at his pager. Shaw rolled her eyes and possessively took Root’s hand into hers before stalking away from him with Root in tow.

“I think he has a crush on you.” Root joked with the light smile still on her face.

“A creepy one.” Shaw muttered with annoyance in her tone but Root heard every word and giggled before she let go of Shaw’s hand and started heading towards the elevator. Shaw watched her go and her pager went off again, making her groan in displeasure. It was going to be a long night. She threw one quick glance over her shoulder and met Root’s soft eyes. Hopefully not too long, Shaw thought.

Trauma. Shaw knew trauma. It was basically her life. There’s a familiarity about it that gnaws at her skin and bone. She knows it by heart. She knows it as it’s coming. She’s surrounded by it day and night. But in-between everything, there’s a certain calmness that never escapes her. A lot of people think she’s too far gone, too stone cold, too heartless, too insensitive, too unfeeling, and every other thing that makes her any less of a human being. Yes, she has Axis II Personality Disorder, but that doesn’t take away the fact that she can still feel emotions. She feels them. She could be a sociopath, but she has feelings. She’s emotionally perceptive and aware of everything. She says things she doesn’t mean; like how she doesn’t have feelings. She says it because she’s been facing this disorder slash mental illness all her life and it’s been so stigmatized and categorized that the only thing she’s come to under everyone’s scrutiny was that she was a sociopath without a feeling. She has emotions. Shaw has emotions. One can tell in the way she love animals. Anyone can see that with the way she looks at Bear, the way a smile grows on her lips and stops at her eyes. She was a brilliant E.R. medical doctor and remains a skilled medic. She served for her country and was betrayed by the people she work for, but she still fought for them and endured Decima’s torture for the one year they held her in captivity during Samaritan’s reign. She has dedicated most of her life to help and save people. Shaw is selfless. She sacrificed herself for the team and Root. She cares about Root. Root is the cause of all her recent changes and how she’s trying to rebuild from everything in the past she was expected to become. She know she’s different, but with Root, she feels normal. A normalcy that seems too human for her sometimes. She felt the closeness to Root and Bear like the attachment she had to both her parents when she was younger. She misses her mother, but she doesn’t know how to show it. Yet Root was there and embraced her at the right moment, sending comfort and homeliness into Shaw’s heart. She knew today would be tough, but she didn’t expect for Root to make her feel better, and she did.

The next few hours passed by in the trauma room with little to no incidences and Shaw quickly handled the cases like she’s been doing it for years. Harold informed her that her boss was going home soon and said he’s got eyes on the number so Shaw could do what she does best in the trauma section to keep up with her cover without any distraction. It was not all that surprising that the plastics attending kept showing up in the pit and pretending to work cases she knew didn’t needed his expertise. He tried talking to her, but Shaw just kept to herself. She saw the chief walk down the stairs as she was using one of the computers behind the nurse station to type in her notes from the old lady she treated for high blood pressure an hour before. He spotted her and walked Shaw’s way, setting his briefcase down on the table and looked at the chart of the people that signed in for the day.

“Busy day, Dr. Gray?” he tried to make conversation. Shaw managed a fake but believable smile as she nodded and saved the patient’s history she was working on before closing the window on the screen. “Well, I will be off now. My wife will be expecting me.” he sighed as he picked up his case. Shaw continued nodding and he turned and was about to leave before twisting back to look over his shoulder saying, “You can go home now.”

“But my shift’s not over until seven,” she said pretending to look at her watch even though she knew that it was exactly a quarter after five.

“Consider it a greeting gift. Have a good evening, Dr. Gray, and again, welcome to the family.” he winked before turning back around and walking out of the hospital. Shaw gave him an odd look before shaking her head and standing up, stretching after having sat in the chair for nearly an hour. Joshua Whiteman just happened to show up at that exact moment and ruin her mood again as his eyes ran over her figure under the white coat. Again. Shaw walked past him and headed straight to the locker room to grab her stuff and didn’t bother to change in case the creep showed up again. She was out of the hospital pretty quickly and hopped onto Root’s motorcycle she brought to work to ride home.

Shaw called out for Root when she got home and sighed when she saw the mess in the kitchen. Root was leaving a trail of mess wherever she went in their apartment. Shaw shook her head and shrugged off her dark blue wool-blended peacoat that stopped just above mid-thigh to hang it on the coat hanger near the door. She checked the oven and saw the duck breasts roasting in it. Then she went over to see the vegetables and potato skin that were scattered across the cutting board and freely popped a baby carrot into her mouth. The crunch that followed felt good and Shaw was about to go straight to the bedroom before she heard someone humming from the bathroom. The door was slightly ajar and she found herself a sprawled out Root in the bathtub enjoying a nice bubble bath surrounded by little tea light candles in each of the corner of the tub. Shaw leans against the doorframe and watch as Root lay there underneath the tons of bubbles without a care in the world. Shaw recognized the wireless noise-cancelling headphones she had on connecting with her phone on the edge of the tub. This fearless woman was sitting there in the tub without an ounce of trepidation that someone could invade their home any second and she wouldn’t even know because she had those stupid headphones on. Shaw smirked as her eyes travelled along Root’s body that disappeared beneath the bubbles and her toes barely coming out of the water. Root’s wet hair look was already brushed back and her head leaned against the wall as she seem so relaxed humming and splashing a little bit of water over her breasts. Shaw folded her arms and crossed her legs at the ankle as she leaned more into the wall with her right shoulder. She licked her lips and contemplated if she should join the taller brunette in the water, rattling the peaceful scene or bequeath the tranquil environment to go change into more comfortable clothes in the bedroom.

Shaw finally decided to pass on the bubble bath and move to the bedroom after several seconds. It was unlike her to pass on being intimate with Root as of late, but she knew Root would be able to appreciate the bubble bath for the both of them. Shaw took off her scrubs in two swift movements as she got to the middle of the bedroom and threw them into a hamper next to the closet. She went to grab some black sweatpants and a grey long sleeve with a v-neck, foregoing the bra. She went to the bed, moved a pillow against the headboard, laid back against the cushion in a sitting position, and pick up the book she was reading the night before called The Face of Battle by John Keegan. Shaw’s favorite genre was anything that had to deal with warfare. She found them enlightening and stimulative. It was about half an hour later when Root finally made her way into the bedroom in just a towel, jumping back a little as she noticed a figure on the bed.

“What are you doing here?” Root exclaimed as a hand went to her chest and she exhaled a deep breath. Shaw looked up and smirked as she let her eyes travel down Root’s towel-clad body over the top edge of her book. She lowered the novel slowly and watched as Root moved towards the bed.

“I got home early.” Shaw said as Root decidedly climbed onto her lap and bookmark Shaw’s last page before setting it down on the night table beside them. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Root answered back suggestively as she swept her wet hair to one side and held it to her chest with both hands as she leaned in to lay a soft kiss upon Shaw’s lips. Shaw hummed softly in response and moved her hands behind Root to press them onto Root’s back to pull her forward. Root smiled into their next kiss and scooted closer into Shaw as she let go of her hair and pressed her hands against the top of Shaw’s chest.

“You’re a little overdressed.” Root whispered against her lips. Shaw didn’t care for Root’s comment as she pulled Root closer into her and ran her hands up to her shoulders. Shaw and Root’s tongues fell into a dance as their mouths open to accept each other’s entrance. Root’s hand rose up to Shaw’s neck and wrapped her arms around her as she pressed her upper body into Shaw, moaning slightly when Shaw’s hands moved to tug her towel off. Shaw’s hands were on her warm skin almost immediately after and she reveled in the feeling of her gentle wandering hands as they swiveled to her sides to caress her sensitive skin from soaking in the tub for a long time. Shaw trailed kisses down to her jawline and Root opened her eyes to watch the avid reader kiss down to her neck, pulling Shaw’s head closer against her and grinding her lower body into Shaw’s lap. Root let out a breath and pulled Shaw up to eye level before leaning in for another kiss and pushing away from Shaw.

“How’d it go with the irrelevant number?” Root asked as she trailed a finger to trace Shaw’s defined jawline, teasing the woman but also curious about how her day went. Shaw frowned but answered her anyway.

“Quiet. I almost wanted to paint his office’s walls with the perv’s brain to pass time.” Shaw entertained the woman on top of her with a sinister smile. Root chuckled and brushed a few strands of hair behind Shaw’s ear.

“I’ll help if you carry through with it next time.” Root said flirtily as her hands moved down to Shaw’s breasts, pinching lightly on her nipples through the thin fabric. Shaw stared at her with a thoughtful look before moving in to capture her lips in one swift movement. They wrestled against each other as Shaw moved to grab Root’s ass and Root continued playing with her nipples. One of Shaw’s hands decidedly moved around to the front and she found Root’s center wet and warm. Root moaned slightly as Shaw’s fingers glided through the slickness. Shaw moved her left hand up to the back of Root’s neck as she pulled her closer and entered her without as much of a warning. Her fingers moved in and out, stroking the insides of Root as Root grinded down on her hand slowly and sensuously as she kissed Shaw back with ardor. Root’s fingers that were wrapped around Shaw’s nipples moved to her shoulders and used the smaller woman to balance on her knees on each side of Shaw’s legs as she moved her hips up and down, soaking Shaw’s fingers with her wetness. Shaw bit down on Root’s bottom lip hard, and Root gasped, creating an opportunity for Shaw to move her tongue between her lips and explore her mouth. Root moaned as she felt the build-up in the pit of her stomach, surrendering herself to the warm feeling and moving in sync with Shaw’s skilled fingers that knew her body like no one else. Shaw’s left hand moved from the back of Root’s neck to her right breast, kneading the flesh with zeal and a determined desire to make her feel good, and because Shaw got off on watching Root come undone before her. Root whimpered as she dug her short nail into the smaller woman’s shoulders and moved her hips faster, urging Shaw to help her reach the peak she sought after. Her breathing grew heavier as the seconds pass by and Shaw moved her mouth to Root’s neck because she knew what Root wanted and she bit down on the warm skin, running the length of her tongue over the parts that her teeth had previously grazed. Root’s breaths and moans came in short spurts as she neared her climax, holding onto the feeling and focused on relaxing herself as she gave in to Shaw’s pleasurable attention. It wasn’t long before she stilled above Shaw, trembling uncontrollably as the pad of Shaw’s thumb brushed over her clit with the right amount of pressure and pushing her over the edge. Shaw held her as she shuddered and rode out the last of her orgasm for half a minute before she sighed and fell into Shaw’s embrace and kissed the side of her neck with affection. Shaw stilled her fingers and carefully withdrew them from Root after a minute. She buried her nose in Root’s hair, inhaling the cherry blossom shampoo that Root like to use so much. They stayed that way for about five minutes as Root cuddled into Shaw’s body warmth before the oven’s timer went off in the kitchen. Root sat up almost immediately and got off of Shaw in two seconds’ time as she raced off to the kitchen to take the roasted duck breasts out of the oven. Shaw smiled in amusement as she watched Root running out of the room naked and decided to use the time to go wash her hands. She looked at herself in the bathroom’s mirror and couldn’t hide the grin of how normal everything felt with Root. Everything was spontaneous and felt right. It was inconceivable at times for Shaw. She found Root a few minutes later in the bedroom taking the time to get dressed in a grey v-neck shirt and mom jeans. Shaw eyed Root’s choice of evening outfit while Root ran a brush through her half-dried hair, smiling at Shaw checking her out so openly.

“Dinner’s almost ready.” Root said as she put the hairbrush down.

“Okay.” Shaw said as Root made her way over to the end of the bed where Shaw decided to sit and watch Root brush her hair. Root went to stand between Shaw’s legs and looked down at her with a look in her eyes only Shaw recognize. Root rested her hands on Shaw’s shoulders as Shaw placed hers behind each of Root’s thigh, keeping her close.

“Okay.” Root spoke softly as she looked deep into Shaw’s eyes, an adoring look gracing her features that used to make Shaw roll her eyes. Nowadays, she appreciate being doted on. In Shaw’s eyes, Root was imperfectly perfect for her. They’ve somehow found their own pace of normal and Shaw never thought she would ever experience a moment like this.

“Dinner?” Shaw reminded her as Root’s eyes lingered for far too long. Root smirked then and bend down to whisper into Shaw’s left ear.

“ _I know what I’ll be having for dessert tonight_.” she said playfully. Shaw didn’t miss the innuendo as Root pulled away and winked at her before walking away, leaving the former operative sitting there in the middle of the room. The night was definitely looking brighter for Shaw after the gloomed day she’s had, and Root was the cause of it.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and kudos! Midterms week was stressful but it is really nice to get a few responses from readers of where they're from and see people participate. Alright, next survey question: What is the age range here? 
> 
> Hope everyone enjoys this! Feel free to point out any errors I've made. This is my first draft. I always try to post as soon as I can and I don't have a Beta reader, so I always go with the first draft. If anyone is interested and wants to volunteer, you can go ahead and comment below or message me. :) Have a wonderful day!


	6. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this totally went pear shaped...as Shaw would say. lol I was thinking of writing one thing, and let's just say the chapter went in a completely different direction. I hope everyone can still enjoy it anyway. Have a great day. I'll be having a 10am-9pm one... 
> 
> Quick survey question: what do you want to see in the next chapter?

           Root watched the former operative and homicide detective bicker, not knowing whether she should intervene or not, and decided to put her chin in her hand as she sat behind Harold’s organized desk. Surprisingly, they were fighting about Root instead of ganging up on her and calling her witty nicknames; like Cocoa Puffs or Superpowered Nutball. Lionel Fusco had accidentally let slip that he kissed Root when he muttered to himself about why he ever laid one on her at the New York Stock Exchange after she told him to run some errands for Her and that She had her reasons when he asked why. Unfortunately for him, Shaw had overheard as she walked into the underground station and started going off about how he took advantage of Root and pushed her index finger sharply into his chest, making him back all the way up to the subway train. She threatened to cut up his manhood, slice and dice it and then feed it to the street dogs if he ever did that again. He tried to explain over and over that Root was there and he needed some adrenaline at the time to go fight Decima operatives, but Shaw wasn’t having it and warned him to stay the hell away. Root found all of this interesting and looked at Shaw’s protective body language as she threatened the man. Shaw almost never gets confrontational about her, and Root found it funny to watch Lionel look as terrorized as he does right at this moment.

       The Machine started speaking to her and Root sat up straighter, listening in closely as her eyes widen at the new information. They had a new irrelevant number and She wanted Root to deal with it. Root’s eyes narrowed and she quickly turned on the screen of Harold’s computer as she found the stupid shit eating face staring back at her. She had a feeling the number was familiar but she didn’t realize how close it hit to home.

“And _you_.” Shaw pointed at the intelligent hacker while strutting over. “Why on earth did you let him - ” Shaw stopped mid-interrogation as she saw a twinge of discomfort in Root’s facial expression while she looked at the computer. “What is it? Did we get a new number?” Shaw asked, her mood changing from anger and jealousy to excitement immediately as she went around the desk and look at the computer screen. Shaw’s eyes scanned the screen where a full-content background history of a male in his late mid-thirties was glaring into Root’s face, and Shaw’s eyes quickly traveled over to where their next destination would be by the end of the day. He was currently living in Bishop, Texas. Shaw started to wonder why that town sounded familiar until she suddenly recalled Reese talking about the first time he and Finch got a number out of New York and it was a cold case. They were at a bar and sharing stories with each other back then. It was a long time ago. Possibly three to four years back. That number had turned out to be Hanna Frey, a close friend of Root’s real identity, who they discovered was murdered in 1991 by a man named Trent Russell when they reopen the case file with Detective Joss Carter. Mysteriously, they found that he was killed two years after Hanna’s disappearance by a drug lord he allegedly stole money from. It was odd but no one really thought twice about it. The case had gained a lot of attention in town right after Hanna disappeared and again when they had finally found her body.

“He liked Hanna.” Root’s voice was barely above a whisper but Shaw had heard it clearly. Fusco looked confused watching the two women interact with each other a little more intimately than usual and cleared his throat.

“Alright Strays, I’m gonna go do that thing now…” he sweated before making his way out of the mission control room. It was just Shaw and Root now. Reese and Harold had taken Bear out.

“So, what? We’re gonna work this number or hand it over to Finch and John?” Shaw asked and Root sighed in response.

“I don’t know, Sameen.” Root answered verbally. Root crossed and then uncrossed her legs at the ankle as she leaned back into the rolling chair. She really didn’t know what she wanted to do. It was still a slight sore spot for her. She’s never gone back for anything except visit her mother and Hanna’s grave in the past years.

“Okay, then let’s flip a coin. Heads we give it to Harold, and if tails...we’ll fly to Texas tonight.” Shaw suggested while she started digging into the front of her pant pockets for a quarter. The Machine started telling Root the probabilities of flipping the coin and Root smiled sadly at the Machine going along with Shaw’s proposition.

“Alright.” Root said to humor the former ISA operative, even though she wasn’t sure this was something that should require a coin flip. Shaw tossed the flat and round piece of metal into the air with a flick of her left thumb, and Root watch the quarter spin in the air for a good three seconds before landing on the back of Shaw’s left hand. She covered and sandwiched the coin in-between the back of her left hand and the palm of her right hand before lifting up the latter. _Tails_. Root blinked, momentarily blinded by the outcome of the coin flip. Her phone chimed, letting Root know she just received an email. Root look at the cellular device with a perplexed expression before unlocking her phone and tapped on the new email notification.

“The Graduating Class of 1995 invites you to our 20th Year Class Reunion on June 24th. Five-Thirty for cocktails. Followed by dinner at Six-Thirty. Location: Gymnasium at Bishop Union High School. Ticket price: $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Please print out our invitation and mail it to the address below with a check mark next to the box that applies to you: Attending and pay in advance, Attending and pay at the door, Not Attending. ” Root read the email out loud even though Shaw was already bending down and looking over her shoulder. Root look to her right to gauze Shaw’s reaction and accidentally pressed her lips against Shaw’s left cheek. She blushed a deep shade of red while she pulled away quickly and Shaw looked at her amusingly.

“Sorry.” Root muttered as she cleared her throat and busied herself with looking over the email invite again. Shaw smirked and bent down further to tease the woman. Root bit down on her lower lip as she noticed movement on her right. “What are you doing?” she asked closing her eyes when she felt Shaw’s hot breath against her right ear, even though she couldn’t hear it. She felt Shaw’s lips on her neck next and she tilted her head to the left to give the woman more access, and she felt Shaw’s hands sliding down from her shoulders to her upper arms in a tantalizing touch.

“Wait a minute… You graduated when you were, what, sixteen?” Shaw pulled back and looked curiously at the hacker before seeing the answer in the brunette’s eyes and leaned in to kiss Root’s exposed skin that was rather flushed.

“Yes, but what does that have to do with what you are doing?” Root teased while she moved herself away from Shaw’s lips and hands as she swiveled around in the armchair. It was a good thing Shaw had a good balance on her two feet or else she would’ve fallen forward. She stood upright and cross her arms as she stared down at the hacker blankly as though she should know that Shaw was just trying to help her unwind.

“Okay, maybe I _am_ a little anxious to see how miserable everyone’s lives turned out...” Root admitted perkily  as she looked down at the twisted hands in her lap and a small grin appeared on her lips. “It’s just...I haven’t gone back there for any other reason than to see Hanna, my friend...from before.” Root’s vague explanation left Shaw feeling a little knot in her stomach.

“I know about her.” Shaw decided to say after a full minute of silence. She wanted Root to know that she didn’t have to explain any further. She could hear the regret in Root’s voice as she spoke about the girl. It wasn’t something Shaw was sure she wanted to hear. It wasn’t something she was sure Root wanted to talk about with her either.

“ _He_...was a bad code.” Root started as she looked an inch down from Shaw’s eye to avoid eye contact. Shaw knew who she was talking about. The perpetrator was a Trent Russell. Reese had told her. “A really bad one.” Root continued. Shaw nodded as she tried wrap her mind around what Root was saying. “I had set him up to be...killed. He was my first victim. I was fourteen then. Almost finished with my sophomore year in high school. All the kids teased me because I was younger and smaller. They called me a freak, made fun of my curly hair, and I got all kinds of insults you could possibly come up with simply because I was different from the rest. Children tease each other because you’re short or you’re tall or because you’re ugly or because you’re smart or all kinds of differences. But why? _Why_ is it that kids are so mean at that age?” Root asked with a slight pained voice and sighed several seconds after. “I didn’t have a parent to help me deal with...that kind of stuff. My mother was constantly working to keep a roof over our heads, and I grew up without a father. Never knew him. Never seen a picture of him. I was pretty much self-taught to be strong, and to be comfortable with myself and who I am. I was a good girl - and I was not.” Root said with a dark look in her eyes. “I got really good with computers. I realized early on that every system has a flaw. I became pretty good at finding them. My mother… She was the one who encouraged me to follow my talents, specifically computers. Everyone at school made up rumors about her because she couldn’t show up to the parents conference meetings and they accused her of being abusive, an addict and an abuser of whatever substances they could come up with, and - ” Root paused again. “I don’t enjoy killing people, Sameen, but I don’t feel bad either. I didn’t feel bad setting up the man who murdered the only good friend who constantly looked out for me.” Root said with finality as she looked up into Shaw’s eyes. There was a defiant look in them that made Shaw feel hurt for her, even if it was only the tiniest of emotion she can get herself to feel for the woman before her. A few seconds after, she brought one arm around the hacker’s shoulders and pulled her in. Shaw held Root’s head against her abdomen as she glanced over at the abandoned subway train with a hard look. Root let Shaw hold her as she close her eyes and thought about how happy Hanna would be for her right now if she knew that Root had found someone. Someone other than the Machine that looked out for her. Root pulled away slightly and looked up at Shaw who then gazed down at the woman in her arm. “I skipped town after my mother passed away, and I never looked back since, except to visit for my mother and Hanna’s death anniversaries.” Root admitted.

“So...we’re handing this over to John and Finch” Shaw said more than asked. Root shook her head at that.

“No...we should go. I want to see what Patrick Adkins has gotten himself into.” she said and paused for a moment. “You know, he wasn’t very nice to me either.” she tried to fake a frown and Shaw smirked at the false accusation.

“I bet you liked Hanna too.” Shaw baited her and Root’s eyes widened at the claim. “And he figured it out.” Shaw continued as she watched Root’s reaction. She speculated that about Root’s private life by her body language to her previous statement.

“Fine, I did.” she acknowledged a minute later. “Now, can we move on to the topic of you being my date or should I say... _wife_ for the reunion?” Root said teasingly to try and change the tune of the conversation while Shaw rolled her eyes and let her. “I could always take Lionel as a special friend. He’d make a nice husba - ”

“No, you’re not.” Shaw’s eyes narrowed immediately and stepped away from the hacker. “I’m really gonna take a crack at him if he even tries to lay one on you again.” Shaw said with annoyance as she stalked away to where the weapons were stored. Root crossed her right leg over her left and smirked while she watched Shaw picking out guns for the trip already.

“You know, it’s kind of a turn on when you get all _protective_ because some other men are ogling or touching me.” Root revealed. Shaw scoffed and was about to say that it wasn’t true when she blurted out the next words without thinking.

“ _You’re mine_.”

Root smirked as she stood up and walked over to Shaw, leaning against the wall as she admired the smaller woman up-close and personal. Shaw just avoided her stare and continued looking at the set of knives she pulled out from earlier before settling her eyes on two of them. “Is that right?” Root finally asked just above a whisper and inched closer as Shaw tucked the weapons into a small bag she pulled out from somewhere. Shaw decided to look up. They stared at one another for a long moment until Root’s gaze fell to the ground between them and twisted her hands behind her back. Shaw was quick to move in and press her back against the wall.

      “Root,” Shaw said before pressing her lips against Root’s softly and taking her breath away. “Don't ever ask that again.” Shaw moved and said into her good ear before pulling away as quickly as she pushed in. Root stood their breathlessly smiling as she took in the woman slinging the bag over her right shoulder and motioned for Root to follow her out of the underground tunnel.

      “Let’s leave tomorrow morning. I want to enjoy the city for another night before we’re trapped in the small town for God knows how long.” Root sighed as they met the first sunlight of all day after most part of it spent underground.

“Yeah, okay.” Shaw said as she stopped in front of the sweet new ride, an ebony black McLaren P1, she rewarded herself a few weeks ago after turning over the drug cartel and walking away with a suitcase full of cash. She opened the trunk and toss the bag of weapons in before shutting it close.

“Early dinner?” Shaw suggested when her stomach made a small noise as both she and Root opened their doors and got into the car.

“Fine by me. Steak?” Root asked knowingly.

“Yep.” Shaw answered with an emphasis on the ending of the word as she turned on the engine and let it roar to life. Root typed into her phone as Shaw drove with ease, stopping at all the traffic lights and following the traffic laws for once. It felt easy, relaxing, and above all else, normal. Shaw tapped her fingers against the steering wheel as a song played on the radio, turned on with the lowest volume, and Root glanced over smiling at the relaxed woman in the driver’s seat. She quickly look back to her phone before Shaw caught her staring and sent Finch a message that they’ll be out of town working on a new number in the next couple of days. The Machine emailed her two air tickets to Corpus Christi with a receipt to rent a car and Root put her phone away in her leather jacket’s pocket after checking in for their morning flight. Shaw stopped in front of the valet parking and tossed the key to one of the valet drivers standing readily near the car as Root got out and followed her into the famous steakhouse.

“You know, this is our third time here this month.” Root said after the hostess sat them down at their usual table and walked away to get their server.

“Yeah, so?” Shaw said while she scanned the menu, even though they both knew what she was going to get anyway. Root grinned and looked back at the menu, trying to decide whether she should get the braised beef short ribs or half of the hearth-roasted lobster. Maybe the surf and turf option would suit her best, she thought to herself after a while. A server finally arrived with the drinks they placed with the hostess and pleasantly took their orders without any incident. Root and Shaw sipped on their drinks as they intensely stared at each other across from the table, Root not knowing whether Shaw was in a conversational mood or not. She really wanted to discuss their covers though.

“You never told me if you wanted to play my wife earlier. So, what’s the verdict?” Root asked casually as she took a small sip of her drink. She could only imagine the faces of those in town as the confounding truth that she was a homosexual flooded through the township. Conservatism still permeated the town even after the New Age movement, and people were more or less frowning upon any beliefs that went against their traditional southern American values. Root knew that although she’d get judgmental stares for the better part, the townspeople of Bishop would never have the gall to approach her about it. Maybe the males there would, seeing that they’d feel the need to prove their manhood or rankings in the social hierarchy, especially when a homosexual couple challenges their superior status as men in that patriarchal society. She’s always stuck to the shadows when she visited, not letting it be known that she was Samantha Groves whenever she was in town. Now, it was going to be a different story. She'd rather come out of the shadows with a boom than just a pop.

“Yeah, whatever.” Shaw answered with nonchalance as she took a sip of the strong alcohol. “Wouldn’t they disapprove of that kind of thing? Homosexuality, gays, lesbians, trans, etc?” she added as she looked at Root.

“I was thinking about that. They don’t believe in it. If anything, most will sneer at us. I really just want to see how many people would balk at the occasion and have an epileptic fit from seeing me, the ugly and freakish nerd, married to the most beautiful Persian woman.” Root teased. “By the way, you’re totally wearing that gorgeous white dress you wore to the museum gala. From the video She showed me, _you_ were the only work of art not on a canvas.” Root winked flirtatiously as Shaw rolled her eyes.

“I’m not playing your trophy wife, Root.” Shaw scolded her lightly as she looked overly pleased to see the server coming their way with the large plates. He set them down before each of the woman carefully, asking if they needed anything else, and courteously excused himself from the table afterwards. Shaw dug in immediately and then forked the second bite of steak she had cut out and extended it towards Root. The hacker looked at her amusingly and moved forward to take the cut into her mouth. Root didn’t mean for it to be sensual but Shaw stared at her lustfully as Root chewed and decided to cut out another piece to eat herself. They stared at each as they ate. Root eventually grinned as she cut into her lobster and forked a piece before feeding Shaw in the same way that she had fed her earlier.

“I don’t want you to play my trophy wife.” Root said after a while of playing with the loaded mash potato she’d order on the side. “I just want them to know you’re mine.” Root finally admitted as she looked up to catch Shaw’s eyes that slightly softened at the remark. Shaw looked at her thoughtfully as they ate with the next minute in silence and sat further back into her chair. She scratched her neck a little as she thought about playing wives with Root and shook her head at even having to think about it.

“I’ll wear the white dress...if you wear that black lace shirt dress, you know, the one with long sleeves from three weeks ago.” Shaw tried to compromise.

“Deal.” Root said almost immediately and smiled as the former operative shook her head and rolled her eyes at her. They finished the rest of their dinner soundlessly and soon enough were on their way home. The next morning came without incident. Root and Shaw had already packed the previous night, and Shaw rolled their suitcases out the doorway while Root locked the door behind them. They’d call a cab beforehand and the yellow vehicle was waiting in front of the building as they made their way out. The drive to the airport was bleak and boring. They got past security without a problem, thanks to the Machine and were sitting in the waiting area waiting for their flight in due time. Root was on her phone while Shaw was starting a new novel called “Birdsong” written by Sebastian Faulks. It was a book about the life of a man before and during World War I. Root pushed up the glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose and looked at the phone with a frown as she tried to tap into the airport’s network for fun. Shaw put her book down for a moment to take a look at Root’s furrow brows and smiled a little before recomposing her usual stoic features. Root looked terribly cute in those bold frames and Shaw nearly groaned every time she saw them on her. She wanted to reach out and help relax the tension lines on Root’s forehead, but she knew Root would tease her right away about caring. After a minute, Shaw sighed and forewent all concerns and worries about Root’s teasing and went ahead to pull the dorky and cute-looking hacker under her arm and into her side.

“What are you doing?” Shaw asked, trying to figure out what was bothering her partner as she pulled Root closer into her side.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Root questioned her with a smirk plastered on her red lips. Shaw’s gaze dropped down to her mouth and unconsciously licked her lips. She was wearing that red color matte lipstick again that drove Shaw crazy. Not the mental kind, but the sexual sort, although Root did drive her mad quite often with her adorable but annoying quirks.

“What are you doing?” Shaw asked again as she refocused her eyes on Root’s. Root shrugged and handed the phone to Shaw who looked at a bunch of codes and algorithms she couldn’t understand. She scrolled to the top and finally saw what Root was trying to do.

“Why are you trying to hack into their system?” Shaw said lowly as she tossed the phone back into Root’s lap and pulled her closer.

“I’m bored.” Root pouted as she looked at Shaw, who only rolled her eyes in response. Root then decided to turn around and lean her back into Shaw’s side, forcing her to turn a little as well to adapt to Root’s new position as she went back to hacking the airport’s security system. Out of the corner of her eyes, Shaw noticed several people giving them curious looks. Unamused, she picked up her book and flipped back to where she had left off and leaned her other arm against the top of the chair. After about thirty minutes of this, Root and Shaw were finally boarding the plane and sat in the first class section with no further complaints. Root decided to sleep for the rest of the air ride while Shaw was determined to stay awake and be on alert for anything dangerous. Shaw continued reading the book, peeking over to the seat to the right from time to time. Root’s headphones were falling off as her head slid down the side of the chair and she jolted awake from time to time when her head nodded off too suddenly. After about five hours and forty-five minute, they landed in Corpus Christi without an issue and skipped the baggage claim area to go straight to the car rental. Root picked a premium elite car, a dark grey BMW 5 Series. Shaw let Root drive since she knew the way and Shaw was tired from staying up throughout the flight so she wanted to take a short nap on the drive to Bishop. Shaw placed their suitcases in the back and shut the trunk closed before falling into the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt, surprising Root who had just finished doing the rental paperworks and was standing to the side of the door. Root walked around the car to the driver’s side and got in, turning on the engine and some cool air. The Machine stayed quiet as she drove for some time and got onto an empty highway. Shaw was fast asleep in the seat next to her and Root started wondering where they should stay for the rest of the evening. As though reading her mind, the Machine gave her an address to a hotel on Highway 77 and told her it was booked for exactly one week. Root’s face scrunched up at the Machine taking the initiative to booking the room for that long but didn't argue with Her. She never questioned Her. They'd be in and out of town in two days at best, Root thought to herself. That's how their numbers usually worked anyway. Root turned to the right and glanced at Shaw for a few seconds while she slept. They were about ten minutes away and she wondered what Shaw would think of the town that she grew up in.

Root wasn’t exactly excited to be back. She wondered how many people would recognize her. She was always good at stopping in and out without being spotted. Now, she had to face a bunch of people who used to tease her as a kid, a teenager, and then later as a young adult. She got out of there when the only person who kept her back passed away. Root’s mother meant a great deal to her, and she inherited some nurturing qualities from the woman who constantly supported her throughout her upbringing. It was a clean break from Bishop after she passed on, but Root always wondered what her life would’ve been like if she’s never followed her talents and left the smalltown. Root didn’t like to think about it when she did, because in one scenario or another in her mind, she’d continue to be bullied and feel irrelevant for the rest of her life. Root looked over at Shaw again and a small smile graced her lips as she thought about the one person she was grateful to meet after getting out of town. Her first true love.

“Stop staring. You’re creeping me out.” Shaw said while her eyes were still closed. Root bit back her widening smile and focused on the road. They were a minute away from the exit that would lead them to the small hotel. It was supposedly the nicest one near town. It was still another three hours before they had to be at the reunion. Root frowned again at the thought of having to meet the people from her past. This was why she didn’t even bother to show up when Finch and Reese were looking into Hanna’s case that was left cold. Root turned into the parking lot and put the car in park before switching the car engine’s off.

“Stop mulling over it. I bet they won’t even recognize you anymore.” Shaw said before she swung the car door open and stepped out to go to the office to check them in. Root sat there stunned at her words and thought them over until Shaw came back with a room key and started taking their suitcases out of the trunk of the car.

“I’ll take them.” Root said as she moved in to take the heavy luggages from her. Shaw stepped aside and let her help as Shaw closed the back of the car and started for their room on the second floor. The only way up were stairs and Root stared at them and heaving out a big sigh before starting up. By the time she got to the room, the door was already left wide open for her to come in and she saw Shaw looking over the room service menu. She kicked the door closed with her right foot and walked over to where Shaw was.

“Hungry?” Root said almost out of breath as she placed the suitcases down by the office desk. Shaw nodded and threw the menu back onto the night table. She made her way across the room and took her black boots, pants, and jacket off before climbing into bed.

“Alright then.” Root grinned as she watched the former ISA agent hop into bed and get under the cover in swift movements. She took off her black leather jacket and draped it over the chair before taking her boots off as well and set them by the desk. Instead of joining Shaw in bed, Root headed for the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She switched on the light and stared at the reflection looking right back at her. She look tired and worn out from the near six hours flight. Root turned on the hot water before taking her glasses off and splashing her face with the slow warming water. The tension in her back and behind her neck was bothering her and she stood up to stretch back a little after turning the running water off. She took a piece of tissue from the box nearby and wiped at her red lips. She mostly wear it when she was feeling quirky and out of her element. Root rinsed her mouth with a little bit more water before wiping her mouth with one of the many towels laid on the bathroom counter. She exited the bathroom and stepped into the room to find a sleeping woman in the hotel bed. Root shook her head and went over to the door to lock it before stepping towards the other side of the bed. She stripped off her shirt and pants and placed her glasses on the table nearby, crawling into bed into Shaw’s waiting arms. Shaw spooned her from behind and Root whispered for the Machine to wake her up an hour before the event so that they’d both have enough time to get ready. Both women were out like a light moments later, and Root couldn’t be more grateful to have Shaw sleeping next to her with the state of mind she was in.

They woke up about an hour and a half later and laid in bed relaxing. Shaw was awake for a while before Root had woken up, but when she did, they continued to stay still and enjoy the comfort of each other’s body against one another. Shaw could feel the tensions rolling off of Root even as they laid still and she wished she could kneecap all the people who’d treated Root wrong and made her feel any kind of discomfort that she felt now remembering those times. Shaw moved her right hand to Root’s stomach and starting caressing the soft skin she found there. She knew Root was awake even though the woman in her arm pretended not to be. Shaw would let her hand wander to various places before setting her hand on Root’s right outer thigh. She wondered when Root would fake waking up, seeing that they had a little over an hour before they had to make a trip to Root’s old high school. As though reading her mind, Root finally turned her in arms and looked at her with sleepy eyes. Shaw searched her orbs for any sign of distress but couldn’t find any, and she let Root lean in and kiss her when she did. The kiss was slow and languid; like there was no rush in the world as they laid in bed.

“Still hungry?” Root whispered against her lips and Shaw nodded in response before pulling the slim body closer into her lean one.

“Always.” Shaw said before renewing their kiss into a passionate one. Root moaned as she intuitively slung one of her legs over Shaw while the other one settled in-between her legs, pressing down into Shaw’s core. Root grinded into her from up top and Shaw let out a low guttural sound when she felt friction against her center. Shaw moved her hands down to grab Root’s rear and squeezed roughly, possibly leaving a slight bruise before letting them travel up her torso and stroke all of her exposed skin. When her hands reached the clasp of Root’s bra in the back, she unclasp it and Root pulled away from the kiss momentarily to let the material fall off her shoulders and down her arms. Shaw took the undergarment and threw it over the bed before she pulled Root in by both sides of her face, drawing her into Shaw again as they wrestled for the domineering position. In the end, Root won out Shaw and they made passionate love in bed, with hairs pulling, skin marking, and pleasuring each other until both had reached their climaxes and had let go.

Half an hour later, Root was lying in bed staring up at the ceiling while Shaw had gone to the bathroom. She wondered how much time they had left to get ready before the reunion. Root asked the Machine out of laziness of getting out of bed and grabbing her phone, and She told her that they both had a little under forty minutes left before the event. If they were going to be late, then they might as well take the time to dress up and look nice, Root thought. Root knew she wasn’t as bad looking like her younger years. By the way that Shaw looked at her and called her “hot” several times, Root was aware that she’s gradually become more confident in her physical appearance in the last few years after working for the Machine and having to roleplay so many different characters.

Suddenly, Shaw stepped out of the bathroom with her makeup and hair done in just her lacey black underwear, surprising Root at how quick she got to getting ready. Shaw was replicating the look from the museum gala just like Root requested and she couldn’t stop the grin that was fast to form upon her lips. Shaw gave her a point blank look and nodded her head towards the bathroom, signalling that it was all Root’s to use. Root got out of bed then and Shaw watched her as the cover fell off of Root’s naked body. Root only smirked Shaw’s way as she passed by and picked up her makeup bag from the suitcase.

After about another half an hour, Root and Shaw were standing next to each other in the hotel room taking in the sight of one another. Shaw hid a sharp tip knife in the holster wrapped around her right thigh and Root grinned from ear to ear as she thought of what she could do with it later in bed with Shaw if it goes unused for the night. Shaw stood and watched as Root struggled to put on the last of her earring before Shaw couldn’t wait patiently enough anymore and moved in to help.

“Give it to me.” Shaw said as Root let go of the earring and allowed Shaw to help. Their faces were inches apart now and Root admired Shaw’s features up close as she helped Root put on the right earring. Shaw glanced at Root momentarily when she was done and Root beamed as Shaw rolled her eyes and leaned in to kiss her. It was a tender kiss that surprised Root and she placed  her hands on each side of Shaw’s waist as she pulled her in closer.

“I wish we could stay in tonight.” Root murmured as she played with the material of Shaw’s dress and Shaw kissed her lips once more before pulling away.

“Yeah…” Shaw said as her gaze fell back to the earring she helped Root with putting on and reached out to tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear. “But your friend may need our help.”

“I don’t have any friends.” Root remarked expressionlessly. “Well, besides Bear...and Harold. Maybe John too.” she said as her eyes looked up to the left while she thought about it. Shaw faked a cough in response at that.

“And I’m not your friend?” Shaw asked curiously, feeling a little hurt her name was not mentioned. .

“No… You’re my lover.” Root answered straightaway, her stare not wavering as she looked at Shaw straight in the eyes. “And I guess that makes you my _best friend_.” Root teased to ease the tension between them. Shaw smirked as she looked down to their matching Christian Louboutin heels. Shaw was wearing the silver metallic red sole pumps while Root donned a pair of the black very prive studded peep-toe red sole pumps that showed the black nail polish on her toes. Root could easily guess that together they were worth more than the funding put into making the 20th year high school reunion happen. Root kept her hair straight with a slight wave at the ends of her hair and wore the black portofino shirt dress that Shaw liked so much. She adjusted the shirt’s cuffs a bit around both her elbows and finally picked up her Chanel Boy Bag that would go well with her outfit for the evening. Inside the bag, she kept two guns and her red lipstick she’d put on for tonight’s event. Shaw looked at the phone and noticed that they were already five minutes late and Root took her time to pick up both their black and white peacoats and strut out of their hotel room, locking the door behind her, before following Shaw to the car. Root handed Shaw her white peacoat as they both put on their outerwears with the cool evening temperature approaching. Root got in the driver’s seat while Shaw got in on the passenger side, and it wasn’t long before they got to Bishop Union High School. The ride wasn’t even ten minutes before they pulled into the filled parking lot with various model cars that couldn’t match their rental one in price. Root opened the door and stuck out her left foot as her heel crushed the gravel on the ground and she got out of the car in one swift movement. Shaw did the same and they both closed the door together in sync. Root locked the car before putting the key in her Chanel bag and circled around the car to meet Shaw. They looked like yin and yang put together; Root being the yin to Shaw’s yang.

“So...are you ready for another number?” Shaw asked, trying to be subtle.

“Bishop was never my home.” Root responded.

“That...doesn’t answer my question, but okay.” Shaw said as she fell into step with Root as she led the way.

“Did I tell you that you look absolutely gorgeous tonight?” Root said while turning her head to her right to look at Shaw. “Absolutely gorgeous.” Root said while stressing each syllable of the words while her eyes traveled down the length of Shaw’s body.

“Yeah, whatever, you look pretty hot too.” Shaw said nonchalantly as she gave her a quick lookover. Root smiled in surprise as Shaw stopped them to take her right hand and put a large diamond ring on her left finger before she put one on her own, then intertwined their hands as they neared the entrance of the school’s gymnasium. If Root could redo the moment again, she’d place the ring on Shaw herself. The buildings looked so run down and pitiful, and Root wondered why they never tried to give the school a renovation over the last twenty years. Four women sat at the long table in the front with a banner hanging off the edge of it screaming the event’s name and the price for tickets. Everybody was trying to dress to the nines tonight it seems. Root tried not to frown too much as she realized that these women were the same cheerleaders who made fun of her every morning as they stood by the lockers and snickered at her when she was just trying to walk to class. Her hand slightly tightened against Shaw’s before letting go.

“Well, hello there! Welcome to the 20 Years Reunion of Class of ‘95! Have you purchased your ticket yet?” the former head cheerleader asked cheerily as she looked from Root to Shaw, obviously not recognizing who she was talking to.

“Yeah, two tickets already purchased in advance under the name Samantha Groves.” Root’s eyes twitched a little whenever she had to use her real name.

“Samantha Groves?” the former head cheerleader’s eyes widened as all the women started to look at each other quietly. Root gave them an expectant stare before the woman finally got over her shock and  checked her off a list on a clipboard she kept. She had Root and Shaw filling out a nametag next. They all started to gush about how well time had treated Root and that she looked so great, and Root faked a smile through it all, knowing they'd start talking behind her back as soon as she leaves. When they were finally done dealing with the old cheer squad, Root and Shaw finally made their way inside and handed their coats over to the man working the coat station. It wasn't a surprise that Root headed over to the drinks immediately and Shaw followed.

“I’ll take it that you like them just as much as I do.” Shaw said with sarcasm. Root smiled at the observation before tucking some hair back behind her ear.

“They made my life a living hell in high school. Constantly teased me for having an undeveloped body when graduation was approaching. But what could I do? I was only _sixteen_.” Root said as she gave her drink order to the barman behind the small bar set up. Shaw put a hand on Root’s lower back and stroke it without thinking while Root sunk further into Shaw. The former ISA agent scanned the room and watched what mostly looked like soccer moms and dads chatting with each other and chuckled.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, none of them holds a candle to you and annoyingly, two desperate male wolves are headed our way.” Shaw whispered before she placed an order with the man behind the bar.

“Can we buy you ladies a drink?” a man wearing a shirt too big and pants too long walked up to Root’s side and leaned against the bar. Root inched away from him almost instantly and into Shaw. The other man with a white t-shirt, leather jacket, and a pair of worn jeans sidled up next to Shaw. As though on cue, the barman set their two drinks down and they both picked them up and shook their heads before walking away. One of them put a hand on Root’s arm, making her flinch and spill her drink a little, but Shaw was on it before Root could even react.

“You better learn to keep your hands to yourself, or I’ll flatten them like a hot cake.” Shaw said menacingly to the guy in the leather jacket as he released her and looked to Root for help. He was lucky she didn’t decide to kneecap him then and there. Root pulled onto Shaw’s arm and led the way to the corner of the room, both sitting down as they found empty chairs already laid out. Shaw continued to look at the man with threatening eyes as he averted his and moved farther away from them towards the opposite side of the room with his friend.

“That was Patrick. The one in the oversize shirt and pants.” Root said calmly as she stared at the man wearing a shirt too big and pants too long for his size. “He’s shrunk in his clothes.” Root made a pitiable face just as Shaw scoffed at the image before them.

“That’s our number?” Shaw asked as she crossed her legs and analyze the man from afar.

“The one and only.” Root said as she leaned back into the chair and took a big gulp of her drink.

“They're a walking nightmare of old and sleazy.” Shaw commented as she took a sip of her drink. Root shrugged and let her eyes travel to the guy in the leather jacket. She sure remembers that leather jacket anywhere in Bishop when she was sixteen. James Marsh. Back in high school, he would always have a cigarette between his lips and got away each time whenever he encountered a school faculty because he never lit it. He attracted a lot of girls with his “bad boy” reputation, his long brown hair slicked back with gel, and of course, that leather jacket he’s currently wearing that’s pretty much gone out of style. She remembers how he had tried to take advantage of her several times, when she’d wittingly let him, but saw the panic in his eyes when she asked him to squeeze his hand around her neck as they were making out the third time in the janitor’s closet. He always had eyes for the younger ones. He was two years older and she was his little secret. James Marsh would never be seen anywhere with the freaky nerd. After that day, he never tried to lure her into the cleaning closet again. Root watched him move without the slick and suave movements he had back in high school and smirked darkly all of a sudden. Shaw was right. He really turned into a cheap old sleaze after all these years, Root thought to herself.

Every other male at the reunion were either wearing suits that didn’t fit them right or worn out jeans and shirts, and some had taken their jacket off seeing that the air in the gym was not as cool as it should’ve been even with the chill summer air blowing in from outside. A few looked like they age rather too quickly, and others, not as much. The women all looked past their prime, and Root looked down at her figure and was mostly glad she didn’t stay in Bishop. Root noticed that Shaw had inched closer to her when she wasn’t looking and was well-aware of the hand wrapped around her chair behind her back now. She smirked and leaned into Shaw a little as she put a hand onto Shaw’s left thigh.

“I think we should be on our feet and mingling. Don’t you think so, Sameen?” Root asked without looking at her and she felt Shaw shift under her hand.

“You can go do that. I’ll sit here and drink up.” Shaw said with a little bit of humor and made Root frown. Root turned to look at Shaw who had a devilish smile on her lips, and the tech savvy woman arched an eyebrow her way. “I’m very comfortable here, Root.” Shaw added as she nudged Root with her left arm to stand up. Root figured she was too tired to argue so she stood up, heading back to the bar area again without Shaw.

“Samantha, Samantha, Samantha.” Root cringed at the sound of someone she once knew addressing her by the name she didn’t prefer. She turned around to find another man in a cheap suit who looked too gungho to meet her. She did a doubletake as she tried to make sure he had a ring on his finger, one where she had saw earlier when she had first walked in. The ring was nowhere in sight but there was a white imprinted line where the ring should be. She nearly scoffed at the length this man would go to just to mislead women to get into bed with him. The Machine had already informed her of everyone attending the event and pulled up all their background histories as soon as she got the email invitation to the reunion.

“What do you want, Brad?” Root said as she leaned her elbows against the bar and gave him a once over just to try and make him feel small under her pitiful gaze in vain.   

“Oh, I don’t know, just surprised a beautiful woman like yourself would finally show up to one of these events. I must admit, I never thought you’d come back to look so...strikingly endowed after twenty years.” Brad Walden said as he gave her a slow once over that made her want to tase him to make him permanently crippled. Root chuckled darkly as she gave him a black look in return.

“Well, that’s very kind of you to say. It’s too bad I can’t say the same for you.” Root shrugged as she took the drink from the bar and flashed her wedding ring while she picked the glass up with her left hand. The former high school star quarterback scoffed and tucked both his hands into his front pants’ pockets.

“And who’s the lucky guy?” he asked accusingly while looking at the ring with raised eyebrows.

“More like lucky woman.” Shaw said as she slid into the space beside Root while she put down her glass and asked for another of the same drink with the barman.

“Wow. That is so…” Root enjoyed watching him stutter.

“ _Gay_. I know, right?” Shaw finished for him as she wrapped her arm possessively around Root’s waist.

“Hot.” he added as he lewdly looked them both over. Shaw scowled as soon as the word left his mouth and her hand behind Root’s waist twisted into a fist.

“Careful, Brad. You don’t want to mess with the wrong woman now. I see that your wife is finally making her way over.” Root smirked as she wrapped an arm around Shaw to keep her from lunging forward at the cocky man.

“Samantha and...Sameen,” the former head cheerleader from earlier started as she looked at Shaw’s name tag. “Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?” she asked while batting her fake eyelashes.

“Yes, in fact, we will, Cindy.” Root answered confidently as she grabbed her drink and started to pull Shaw away towards their real target for the night.

“If I were you, I’d put a collar on him. Can’t trust a man who doesn’t wear his own wedding ring.” Shaw faked a smile and nodded towards his ring finger before grabbing her drink and letting Root tug her away from the couple.

“You noticed the ring too?” Root said more than asked as they got to a round pub table to put their drinks down and rested their elbows on.

“I’m a well-trained operative.” Shaw deadpanned before she took a sip out of her drink. As Root lifted her own glass to her lips, Shaw unexpectedly pulled it away from her. “You need to slow it down. You’re going to get drunk at the pace you’re going.” Shaw reprimanded.

“And you aren’t?” Root threw back.

“No. I can hold my liquor. You can’t.” Shaw said expressively.

“Fine.” Root huffed as she looked back at Patrick Adkins with weariness written all over her face. “I wonder what he’s done that made his number come up.” Root thought aloud.

“Can’t you just ask the Machine?” Shaw questioned frustratingly. “Because I’m getting bored.” Shaw finished as she took another sip of her drink. Root’s eyes furrowed as the Machine started to speak to her.

“You’re kidding me?” Root asked as the Machine told her what the mission was really about.

“Who’s kidding you?” Shaw asked as she put her drink down and straightened up before looking at Root intensely.

“She tricked us.” Root scoffed unbelievingly at the joke.

“What do you mean the Machine tricked us?” Shaw asked as she became confused at their situation.

“Patrick isn’t in any sort of trouble.” Root closed her eyes in frustration and let out a breath. “She gave me his number so that I would come back here and _act like a well adjusted member of society_. Also, to remember my _roots_.” Root said with annoyance before opening her eyes. Shaw chuckled and downed the drink with ease.

“Didn’t you tell me that once?” Shaw mocked Root, who only rolled her eyes in response.

“This is too much to process.” Root said as she closed her eyes again and brought her hands up to her aching head. “I came all this way, made my debut, and it was all for...nothing?” Root said more to herself than to Shaw or the Machine. “Well, it wasn’t for nothing.” Root said as she opened her eyes and started pacing back and forth in one place. “There’s a reason for this. Please tell me you didn’t just brought me here because - no I didn’t want to be her - ” Root spoke with the Machine and starting to look slightly mad. Shaw put a hand on Root’s arm and pulled her in for an embrace.

“I normally don’t do this kind of thing in public, but you’re starting to look crazy.” Shaw whispered as she rubbed a hand up and down Root’s back to make it look like she was comforting the woman she just upset. “You know, I never had many friends. Didn’t have much use for ‘em either. I can see why you up and left this town.” Shaw said as she let go of Root and held onto both of Root’s shoulders to keep up the pretense of comforting her. “This was a town where you were supposed to put down your roots and grow old in. I think maybe...She’s just trying to show you what you’re not missing out on. She's got her reasons for what she does like you usually tell us. _Trust her_.” Shaw said as she looked around them to see a few eyes glancing their way. “Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to stay for the food.” Shaw joked and her words finally made Root smile and calm down. Root put both hands onto Shaw’s face and pulled her in for a searing kiss to show her gratitude. Gasps echoed throughout the gymnasium and Root and Shaw disregarded all the reactions as Shaw kissed her back with just as much fervor. Root parted from Shaw’s lips but kept her forehead rested against hers.

“You’re going to make someone really happy someday,” Root said as she looked into Shaw’s eyes. Shaw was about to say that it was her and only her when Root’s lips pressed against her once more but tenderly this time around making Shaw close her eyes at the tenderness. “And I hope that someone will be me.” Root whispered against her lips. Shaw opened her eyes and stared at her with a stupefied look.

“ _Root_. There’s no one else.” Shaw said without the usual hardness in her tone. Root beamed at her and moved in for another kiss before Shaw moved and went for her cheek, then whispered in her left ear that someone was approaching them. They pulled away rather quickly and Root recomposed her features into an expressionless one.

“Hi, sorry to bother you two, but we’re putting in votes for homecoming queen and king.” Cindy said before shoving clipboards and pencils into their hands and stood waiting as they glanced at each other. She was holding out a large aluminum soup can and stared at the both of them expectantly before Root just started writing on the paper. She voted for the geekiest female and male on the list, and smiled before unclipping the paper from the small clipboard and slipped it into the aluminum can. Shaw look bored as she did the same and waited for the woman to leave.

“What’s her name again? Oh wait, I don’t care.” Shaw said as Root was about to answer her and gave her a “Really?” look. “When are we going to eat? I’m hungry. Where’s the food?” Shaw asked as she looked around the gymnasium. Root shook her head and chuckle as she pulled the woman into her. Shaw’s left side connected with Root’s front, and Shaw let the woman wrap her arms around her in public and look annoyed and bored again.

“You make the best wife ever.” Root teased as she leaned in and kissed the spot right behind Shaw’s left ear. “We’re gonna have a fun week together.” Root said playfully.

“A whole week? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Shaw said as she turned to the left and looked at Root with an “Are you serious?” look. “What about the numbers?” Shaw questioned.

“There are no numbers. I’m guessing she’ll send them all to Harold, and he’ll delegate the tasks to John and Lionel.” Root said with a sigh.

“But - that’s not fair.” Shaw said with a fallen expression.

“Life is never fair, Sam.” Root spoke as she leaned in and placed another kiss on Shaw’s left temple.

“I agreed to play wife, not go on a honeymoon with you. Tell the Machine this sucks.” Shaw said as she moved out of Root’s arm and went for her drink again. Root simpered and looked around the poorly decorated gym. It couldn’t get any worse than it already had, Root thought.

A half hour later, they were seated at the table of all the former high school nerds. The cool kids sat together at the other tables and all the seating arrangements were done according to the cliques from back in high school. Root couldn’t help but be happy with the seating arrangement as she caught up with her other former classmates. They all asked what she did at her startup tech company, what Shaw’s profession was, and how long they’ve been together. It was all easy to answer and make up stories as they went along with it at the table. Shaw was surprisingly participating in the discussions they had about nuclear weapons, seeing as one of Root’s former classmates became the high school’s advanced placement chemistry teacher and enjoyed the nuclear subject a little too much and kept going on about it. Root wondered why his number didn't come up as relevant. Shaw shared her time in the Marines and surprised Root, who sat nearby and put a hand on her right thigh. She talked about how she’d come back and work as a physician again but it wasn’t the same being an E.R. doctor again when one comes back from war. Shaw even listened when she casually asked what Root was like back in high school, and they were more than happy to indulge her with embarrassing stories they knew of that really had Root hiding behind her hands most of the time throughout the rest of dinner. Shaw’s eyes twinkled as she heard about the time Root joined the theater club and played a part in a Shakespeare’s play called “Twelfth Night.” Root thought Shaw was enjoying the conversation too much, and moved her hand to the holster wrapped around Shaw’s thigh, driving the blade into her skin with a little bit of pressure, making her gasp in surprise and bite down on her lower lip, pretending to continue listening in on the conversation. Root’s smile widen at Shaw’s expressionless face, trying to hide the pleasure Root knew was running through her like electricity as it would for Root if Shaw had done the same to her.

“Root, what are you doing?” Shaw said in a hushed tone to her as she continued smiling to the rest of the table.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sameen.” Root flirted and drove the blade further into Shaw’s skin, causing Shaw to stop her before she finally pricked Shaw’s skin and make her bleed through the white dress.

“White. Dress.” Shaw said through clenched teeth as she continued to fake her smile.

“Still don’t know what you’re talking about.” Root said playfully as she finally let up on what she was doing and let her hand ghost over Shaw’s center before moving to wrap her left arm around Shaw’s waist. “Honey, we should get going now, right?” Root suggested out loud. Shaw rolled her eyes at the indicative action and nodded her head to agree with Root.

“ _Right_.” Shaw said as they stood and began to walk around the table following Root as she shook hands with most of the them and excused the both of them. Just as they were done making their way around the table, the former head cheerleader decided to talk on the speakerphone and announce the winner of the crowns for the night. Root pulled Shaw along and on their way out of the gymnasium as she heard James Marsh’s name being announced as homecoming king. She practically rolled her eyes as they got to the coats station and started putting on their pretty peacoats and Root smiled at the man behind the counter as she gave him the ticket number. Just as they announced her name as the winner for the other crown, Shaw looked at her with a cunning look and was about to pull her back towards the stage, but Root was quicker and already had a foot out the door.

“You actually won.” Shaw said with a impish grin.

“Of course I did.” Root rolled her eyes as she leaned in and kissed Shaw on the lips. “I won the most perfect tiny human.” Root teased as Shaw huffed and pulled away from her. Root pulled her back in and kissed the breath out of her this time around. Shaw returned the kiss within seconds and pulled Root further into her and Root moaned as Shaw’s hands travelled to her backside and gave a firm sensual squeeze that implied there was more to look forward to for the rest of the night.

“I so don’t get paid enough for this.” Shaw said after she and Root parted and started walking towards their car.

“Don’t worry, Sweetie. I’ll make sure you’ll get paid in full later.” Root promised her and winked before opening the car door. She rolled her eyes just for show and bit back a grin until Root got into the car. Shaw felt excitement boiling in her veins and couldn’t wait until Root made good on her words later.

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	7. Old Flame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everyone, I'm a little behind because of homework the holidays, and my final exams are coming in two weeks. I will try to write in-between classes and studying, but I can't promise a new chapter anytime soon. I hope everyone's had a lovely Thanksgiving and enjoyed the holiday break! :) Have a wonderful day.

The city night was loud and bustling with activity as per usual, but Shaw hid quietly and stayed lurking in the shadows as people passed by. She was observing the number as he got into the club from across the street with a girl under each of his arm. They looked underage but Shaw couldn’t be sure with the amount of cake powder on both their faces. She was so focused on the guy that she didn’t notice a shadow concealed right behind her. Suddenly, Shaw found herself twisting the hand that had barely brushed her right shoulder, and heard a man’s groan only a second later. She pulled the tall shadow forward and pushed him against the dusty brick wall of the old building as she scanned his face. It was Tomas Koroa, the Spanish jewelry thief who once tried to persuade her to leave to Barcelona with him. He’d fallen quickly for her after she joined and worked together with his former team of international thieves, called the Hole in the Wall gang, whom he invested all his existence for six long years before they all turned on him for money. The rest of the gang was promised an extra $500,000 by their then employer if they eliminated Tomas after the robbery.  In Katya’s words back then, “ _Business is business_.” Katya Rodchenko was a member of Tomas Kora’s team. Shaw hadn't heard from him again after he went back to Spain.

“What are you doing here?” Shaw asked with a grim expression as she shove him back into the wall to get even with him for sneaking up on her. Shaw let go of Tomas and the death grip she had on his twisted wrist, which she held behind his back, and stepped away. He scoffed and look downward, embarrassed while wiping at the side of his face that was pressed into the wall from a few seconds earlier. Shaw crossed her arms as she watched him dust off the dirty fine powder from his leather jacket.

“The Florentine Diamond.” Tomas said as though it should be obvious for his presence. Shaw looked at him like she had no idea what he was talking about and his eyebrows gather towards the center of his forehead and he smirked. “What about I buy you a drink and I can tell you all about it?” Tomas suggested with a dashing smile while nodding towards the club across the street from them.

“I’m on a job.” she looked at him as though it wasn’t obvious enough. His lips pursed downward and his eyes fell to the ground before lifting to find hers again.

“I believe we’re on the same job.” he said to her. “That man you’re following,” he continued while nodding towards the club again, “I’ve got ears that he knows where the lost diamond is.” Shaw looked at the booming club with all the technicolor lights beaming inside. It would help her to go in with a date. Shaw shrugged and rolled her eyes before pulling her dress down and fixing her hair. Tomas admired her strapless black tight-fitted dress.

“Nothing unlocks doors like a beautiful woman.” Tomas said as he gestured for her to walk ahead and across the street towards the club. Shaw rolled her eyes back so hard, it looked like it might hurt, and he let out a low chuckle as he followed her winning strides. Tomas flashed the bouncer his B1 visa after he quickly let Shaw through with an appreciative look. The bouncer looked at him for several seconds and then back to his travelling visa that showed he had dual U.S. and Spanish citizenship. He let him in after, and Tomas quickly followed Shaw as she was already halfway to the bar. She chose the end of the bar that was closest to the number’s VIP secluded section. Tomas raised a finger to signal to the bartender who quickly came over to take their drink orders. He ordered two cocktails, much to Shaw’s dismay.

“So, what’s a beautiful woman like you working a job alone?” he asked as they both sat facing each other, Tomas’s back facing the number and Shaw facing him. She rested an elbow onto the bar counter and tucked the hair that had fallen from her bun behind her ear.

“Who said I was working alone?” she smiled impishly as Tomas’s confident gaze faltered. He looked around and didn’t see anyone, not even the pair of brown eyes that were staring holes into the back of his head. He pursed his lips downward again and shrugged as though saying he didn’t see Shaw with anyone without actually uttering a word. Shaw’s eyes glanced over at the number, seeing that not much was going on before returning her stare to Tomas.

“You need to work on your observation skills.” Shaw threw at him before taking a big gulp of the cocktail the bartender just put down.

“How about I work on them with you?” Tomas said as a smile flitted across his lips. Shaw’s smile widened at the witty flirting and didn’t dare glance in Root’s direction on the dancefloor, hiding in the throng of moving bodies. She was quickly making her way over and approaching them.

“How about you work on it with someone your own size?” Root’s voice cut through the simmering tension a second later.

“Tomas.” Shaw said with a mischievous smile. “Meet supersized nutball.” Shaw introduced as she stood up and walked over to the barman to get another drink. Root stared at Tomas icily and crossed her arms as she sized him up. He looked taken aback by her behavior and decided to take a friendly approach and reached out a hand for a handshake. Root looked down at his large muscular hand unimpressed and ignored it. Tomas stare at her in confusion before dropping his hand and sitting back down, moving to whirl the half glassful concoction in the cocktail glass. Shaw came back with a gin and vodka, handing it to Root before plopping down right next to Tomas again, who looked up at her coming back and possibly easing the hostility oozing from Root. The brilliant hacker with wicked gun skills stood near Shaw and decidedly drape her right arm around Shaw’s shoulders, who only shrugged it away in response. Root frowned at Shaw brushing her off but still inched closer to Shaw’s side.

“So, this is your partner.” Tomas said more than asked. Shaw nodded and Root shifted near her.  

“In more ways than one.” Root returned and Tomas looked at the both of them questioningly. Shaw smirked and took another gulp out of her drink as her eyes dashed over to the number for a moment to check if he was still where he was supposed to be.

“Well, if I may point out, I can’t help but notice the subtlety of your antagonism towards me. Have I done something to offend you?” Tomas asked Root. Root’s tongue darted out of her lips and swept across her bottom lip and her gaze cast downward before raising up to meet his.

“You’ve been kind-of hitting on my girlfriend. Well, we haven’t decided what to call - ” Root barely got started before Shaw decidedly cut her off.

“Decided? I didn’t think you got to _decide_.” Shaw joked and Tomas’s confusion deepened even further.

“Sameen. We talked about this.” Root said as she turned to Shaw and crossed her arms.

“When?” Shaw asked as she ignored Root’s pout and continued drinking her nearly empty glass of alcohol.

“You know when.” Root looked at her in disbelief as Shaw’s face showed no sign of what Root was talking about. Root leaned in and whispered into Shaw’s left ear, “Hotel. Bishop. Blade pressing into your inner thigh. My mouth on your - ” but Shaw didn’t let her finish again out of embarrassment.

“Yeah, she's right. We’re together now.” Shaw said to Tomas as his eyes light up at the news.

“I see.” he said as his head nodded slowly, looking from Shaw to Root and back. “It’s too bad I couldn’t sell the idea of running off to Spain to you well enough to whisk you away.” he smiled at Shaw who only rolled her eyes in response.

“Wouldn’t have worked in any scenario.” Shaw said but looked to Root to catch her eye, who only smirked victoriously in return.

“Well, I don’t want to intrude any further then, ladies. I hope you both have a nice evening.” he said suavely as he slipped away quickly without a backward glance. Root and Shaw watched him walk towards the door and out, wondering about the number he left behind.

“How about we let John handle this?” Root whispered seductively into Shaw’s ear as she glanced at John who was standing near the bar on the opposite end.

“And miss out on the fun? No way.” Shaw beamed at Root’s crestfallen expression. “I’m kidding.” Shaw chuckled as she looked over at John who gave them a hand signal that he heard everything and that they can leave. Root placed her left hand firmly on Shaw’s backside and let her lead them out of the club, smiling at how she seems to be getting her way with Shaw tonight. They both turned off the radio intercom in their ears and took the earpieces out, crushing them under their heels and walked down the sidewalk for a few blocks before Root pulled Shaw by the hand into a back alley. She pressed Shaw against the cement wall and crashed their lips together, not bothering to tease the other woman like she usually does. Shaw groaned as she felt Root’s hips pressing into her own and her tongue in her mouth, but both her dress and Root’s off the shoulder black dress were constraining them from more desirable movements. Shaw hissed when Root bit down hard on her lower lip, taking it between her lips before releasing her bottom lip, and moving in to kiss her hard again. Shaw didn’t even need to fight for dominance as she understood what this was about. Shaw let Root work her ministrations, red lips trailing down to her jawline before resting against the side of her neck, marking and bruising her mercilessly. Shaw bit down on her lower lip when she felt Root’s sharp teeth dig into the skin, nearly piercing the thin layer of tissue at her neck, and sucked in a breath when Root didn’t ease off. It was only a few seconds later when she felt Root’s soft tongue run over the expanse of her skin, and she sighed at the relief it brought to her. Root’s hands rested on Shaw’s waist, clutching onto the material so fiercely that Shaw started chuckling at the aggressiveness that came out of her.

“What’s so funny?” Root asked seriously as she lifted up her head from Shaw’s neck to face her. A street light shined a dim orange glow on them as they stood staring at each other.

“You.” Shaw said as she relaxed against the wall she was pressed up against and let her eyes wander down Root’s amazingly fitted dress. When she looked up, she saw Root looking at her thoughtfully with a slight frown and Shaw gave her an annoyed look after contemplating between that and an angered one.

“What? Did you not like me putting out the flame that you were trying to rekindle with _Tomas_?” Root half joked and half asked.

“Rekindle what flame?” Shaw laughed into Root’s face as it turned into a deeper frown. “Just admit it. You were jealous.” Shaw smirked as Root tried to turn her face turned into an inscrutable expression.

“No, I wasn’t.” Root spoke firmly.

“Yeah. You were.” Shaw threw back haughtily.

“No, I wasn’t.” Root denied again before trying to push herself off of Shaw, but Shaw was faster and moved her arms to wrap them around Root’s waist. She brought her face up close to Root, inches away, looking into her eyes and daring her to move again after she held both of Root’s hands behind her back and pulled her extremely close and intimate. Shaw kept staring at her for the next fifteen seconds and finally, Root rolled her eyes and let out a reluctant sigh.

“Fine. I was jealous. Happy?” Root said with annoyance as she gave in.

“Maybe a little. It was fun watching you squirm.” Shaw grinned. Root was about to say something when Shaw suddenly leaned in and kissed her, surprising Root, who responded to the kiss only a second after.

“You’re so mean to me.” Root said breathlessly when Shaw released her lips and hands. Shaw moved her hands to rest against Root’s waist again and she smiled at Root, who only smiled back.

“Yeah, so?” Shaw said in return as she basked in the orange glow that made Root look so angelic and roguish at the same time.

“So, you should be nice to me...because as we’ve just agreed earlier, I’m your girlfriend now.” Root said as she decidedly wrapped her arms around Shaw’s neck.

“So?” Shaw said again as though she didn’t get Root’s point and her face scrunched up at the new term defining their relationship finally.

“Therefore, now you're my girlfriend too. So start acting like it.” Root said while gazing at Shaw’s jawline and brought a hand up to trace the curves and edges with her fingertips. Root finally leaned in after a while and pressed her lips against Shaw’s chin and licked her way up to Shaw’s waiting lips. Their kiss started out slow and easy with lips barely brushing and parting, but then Root begin to press the entire length of her body into Shaw and it ignited the churning feeling that started in the center of her chest from earlier. Shaw really wanted to touch her but she wasn't much of an exhibitionist when she knew the Machine was watching. She saw the security camera in the back alley, red light blinking and then going solid. She pulled away from the kiss and looked into Root’s lust-filled eyes, shaking her head and exhaling in disbelief at all the emotions she felt for the woman before her, and leaned in to kiss her once more and then pulled back.

“Let's get out of here.” Shaw said as she tug Root by the hand, who look confused but followed her anyway. They retraced their steps out of the back alley and onto the sidewalk again, and that's when Shaw felt Root shivering slightly. She walked faster and Root had no trouble keeping up with her long legs and quick steps. Root felt the cool midnight air all around her, but she also felt warm inside. She watched from behind as Shaw’s bun was slowly coming apart and she reached forward with her other hand to free the bun, Shaw’s tresses falling past her shoulders and down to her mid-back like midnight ocean waves. Root felt her a flutter in her chest at the sight when Shaw turned around looking surprised but her expression quickly turning into that of annoyance. Root only flashed a smile in return and she pulled on Shaw’s hand to slow them down, walking at a leisure tempo instead. Root bit down on her bottom lip as she thought about how they've gotten to where they are. She was suddenly left with a sour feeling as she thought of Tomas again when all she wanted to do was just reminisce on how everything that has happened had only led them to this point where they were; where they're supposed to be. Together. Tomas was a part of that journey. A hurdle.

“Did you sleep with him?” Root asked suddenly just as she let go of Shaw’s hand. Shaw turned her head to the left and looked at Root with confusion before it finally dawned on her what Root was talking about. She snickered and looked away as they continued walking on the endless empty sidewalk.

“You did, didn't you?” Root said defeatedly with a sigh. This made Shaw chuckle even more as she stopped in her steps and turned her whole body around to face Root.

“What makes you think that I fucked him?” Shaw asked blatantly, which really threw Root off. Root frowned at the use of those words. “Or that he fucked me?” Shaw added and made Root’s frown deepen even more. “Or maybe we did just sleep…together in the same bed.” Shaw smirked as Root looked down at her confused. “Side by side…” Shaw teased as she drawl out the end of it. Root’s eyes narrowed in on Shaw and the former ISA operative couldn't take it anymore as a winning smile crept near the edges of her mouth.

“What are you saying?” Root implored as she lifted a hand to rub her right temple and shook her head while her eyes closed momentarily.

“What I'm saying, _Root_ , is that I haven't _slept_ with anyone else, not since the hood and zip ties in a CIA safe house with ten hours to kill incident.” Shaw said with a gleam in her eyes while Root’s brown orbs gradually soften.

“Sameen,” Root said her name airily almost like a sigh. “You can't be serious.” she continued with a slight tone of disbelief. Shaw grinned and bit down on her bottom lip, wondering if she should go on about it or not. She decided she was going to.

“It just happened. I kept thinking that the next few times we got together again, after that night at the CIA safe house, would be the last time. But...they weren't. We'd come together and I'd just...lose control.” Shaw admitted as she started walking again and had a faraway look in her eyes. “Then, God knows why, you were always going away during those three years after we shut down Samaritan for good. I just thought...I don't know, that you got tired of me? Every time you came back, you’d sleep on my damn couch.” Shaw said bitterly and kicked the pavement with her heel. “So when you left, I'd find myself sleeping on it for weeks not knowing why until I could finally admit to myself that it was because the couch had your scent.” Shaw looked away but Root can see a little bit of red shading where her cheekbones were. “I didn't even go out looking for a nice fuck.” Shaw disclosed and it made Root cringe. “I just knew I only wanted you.” Shaw’s head turned to the left and her look pierced into Root’s stare. “So stop this jealousy shit you have with Tomas, and be perky psycho that you're the only one for me.” Shaw said and stomped forward. Root was so much in a daze that she didn't realize she was almost ten steps behind Shaw.

“Sameen! Wait!” Root yelled as she tried to catch up with the smaller woman. Shaw kept walking and smiling to herself until Root appeared by her side again. She kept an expressionless face while Root was smiling that smug smile she had after Shaw told her that she didn’t leave with Tomas because she cared about half a decade ago. They walked in comfortable silence and Root couldn’t help but feel a warmth in her chest the rest of the way home.


	8. Case #1007

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoy this chapter! Posting this in celebration of Amy Acker's birthday!!! 12.05.2015 
> 
> Have a great day everyone! 
> 
> Survey question: What are your plans for the Christmas holiday?
> 
> Also, if you haven't already watched this Root/Shaw video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibt6On46N4I (it's absolutely genius and hilarious, SO GO WATCH IT!!!)

“Shaw, where are you?” Root whispered to herself as she typed rapidly across the keyboard and looked at the windows on her screen for as much as a shadow of the woman who’s headed into the warehouse impatiently without backup. Possibility of rescue was at 37.6% now, the Machine spoke in her ear. Root sat against the cement wall on top of the roof of the adjacent building, trying to get a visual of what was going on inside the warehouse as shots fired off endlessly. Root saw John Reese and Lionel Fusco knocking out the guardsmen running out of the building with two silver suitcases and John knocked them out without any hesitancy before they each grab a case. Finally, one of the blacked out windows started to show movements in black and white, and Root bit onto her bottom lip as she saw Shaw looking directly at the camera and letting out a deep breath. Root squirmed as she watched Shaw hide behind the stacked up boxes of whatever was inside, and she moved quickly out of her secured area to shoot back at the gunmen behind her. Root pulled up another window and started typing away as she tried to hack into their security, looking for a flaw in their system and find a backdoor to get in. She gritted her teeth as her eyes darted over towards Shaw every thirty seconds, making sure that the former ISA operative was in one piece. When Root finally found the backdoor to the system, she got in almost a minute later and started unlocking the top roof of the warehouse and activated the helicopter inside of it. The three members were outnumbered and there was no chance of them getting out unless they got to the helicopter that she started from her laptop.

“John, do you know how to fly a helicopter?” Root asked as she started the helicopter and activated it into standby position.

“Sure.” Reese said calmly as he started shooting at the men teaming up on Shaw. Lionel Fusco hid behind one of the crates and got in position immediately before ducking his head out to shoot at one of the top five leaders selling gun to criminals. He was trying to get away and Fusco wasn’t having it.

Reese catched Shaw’s gaze when she started aiming her gun at the assailants and nodded his head towards the helicopter lying in the middle of the room. Shaw quickly glanced up at the roof as it started to come apart and open the enclosed space and filled it with sunlight. Shaw ducked again as she felt a bullet barely grazed the side of her right hip and she cursed furiously at herself for letting her guard down. Root gasped and paused momentarily, looking to see where exactly Shaw was shot but it was too black and white to see where the blood was coming from. John Reese put a bullet in the man’s left and right shoulders, moving forward as he picked Shaw up by the waist and started walking them over to the helicopter.

“Lionel. Let’s go.” Reese said to the homicide detective as he kept moving towards the number. They hadn’t expected to leave empty-handed but it seemed like the only wise thing to do, knowing that Shaw’s been shot at multiple times and they couldn’t risk her life. They’d come a little unprepared, thinking that the number was a victim who was about to get taken out by his buyer. He was actually the perpetrator and scheming the entire scene to look as though it was just a big trade with a good discount. The bastard was thirsty for some quick cash to make up for his gambling loss the week before, and promised a criminal gang the shipment for three-quarters of the original price if he could hand over the money three days before delivering the goods. The criminals fell for it, seeing that they’ve always done business with the same dealer before. The five of them that came with two cases full of cash were shot to death and Shaw not knowing what was going on and barging in got shot soon after in the left shoulder. There were very little visuals inside until Root finally managed to hack into their security system. John tossed Lionel the suitcase he was holding before helping Shaw into the helicopter and climbing in himself. Lionel kept shooting until he was out of ammo and got in as well and closed the door behind him. John quickly lifted the helicopter out of the warehouse as they felt the constant attack from the small firearms the men were carrying. As they got out and flew the little distance to the adjacent building, John was quick to spot Root and hovered slightly over the rooftop as Lionel opened the door for Root to climb in. Root’s eyes immediately went to Shaw lying on the seats in the back and scanned Shaw for her injuries. She got shot two times. One in the left shoulder and one that barely grazed her right side. Root locked eyes with Shaw as John lifted the helicopter out of there. Root sat on the ground and kept looking at Shaw as she sweated and clearly in pain but didn’t make a single sound. It was devastating for Root to watch, but she remained silent as well and occasionally brought her hand up to brush Shaw’s hair from her forehead. Shaw would close her eyes each time Root’s hand connected with her head and she would grit her teeth to calm herself down and continue to breathe evenly as they were heading to a safehouse to fix her up soon. It’s been awhile since she’s been shot after all, let alone twice in one day. Shaw wonder why her focus was off today and she scolded herself for not paying better attention. She was used to being under attack by more than ten people at once, but she had to admit that thirty seemed like way too much for even one of her to handle.

It was about another half an hour when Reese flew onto a private property and landed on the grass area. The house looked like a mansion and the yard behind the house looked like it stretched to about an acre or so. They were in Rhode Island now according to the Machine, and the house was one of Root’s better safe houses. Reese turned the engine off and hopped out of the pilot seat and Lionel followed, still holding the suitcases of money. Reese opened the back door and helped Shaw up and out of the aircraft before carrying her towards the house. Root was on her feet pretty quick and opened the back door as she led Reese to the living room where a makeshift hospital room took over the place.

“Are you sure we’re allowed to be here?” Lionel asked as he put the suitcases on the kitchen counter and looked around at the amazing Gordon Ramsay’s lookalike kitchen.

“The property is under my name.” Root said as she pass by him and started to fill a pan with water and transferred it onto a stove. Root turned it on before grabbing a few towels from the cabinets above and moved back into the living room where Reese had already started tending to Shaw’s wounds.

“I got it.” Root heard Shaw scold Reese as she swiped the washcloth out of his hand and started to dab at the side of her hip. She looked stunning sitting upright on the temporary gurney in just a plain black bra and not ashamed to take her shirt off in front of Reese. Stunning but bloody. Root’s eyes wander over her sculpted upper body appreciatively before she realized that she was supposed to be helping to fix her wounds.

“Here.” Root said as she set the towels on Shaw’s left side. “Let me help.” Root told her as she took the washcloth out of Shaw’s hand and bent down to clean Shaw’s wound with care. Shaw grunted and breathed out hard every time she dabbed at the injury with a little too much pressure. Reese started to go over and work on her left shoulder, taking the bullet out from her back, and Root noticed Shaw’s right hand dig into her right leg before Root put a hand over hers. They caught each other’s eyes and Root focused her attention on distracting Shaw for a bit as Reese cleaned the bullet wound and applied dressing to the injury. Stitches weren’t ever needed when it came to small bullet wounds, but getting shot in the shoulder is one of the most terrible spots. After Root saw Shaw relax a bit, she finally went back to putting another gauze over Shaw’s hip and taped it against her skin. Root leaned in and kissed the area just before standing back up and saw Shaw roll her eyes at the gesture. Even Reese had the decency to scoot away into the kitchen with Lionel. Root put a hand on each of Shaw’s knee and parted them with light pressure, to which Shaw obliged. She stood in-between Shaw’s legs and stepped closer, putting her hands above Shaw’s chest and looked at her worriedly. Shaw stared back with just as much attention and swallowed as Root’s hands travelled up to her neck, and then her face.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” she whispered before leaning in and capturing Shaw’s lips. Shaw returned the kiss and moved both her hands to hold onto Root’s hips and pulled her in closer. Their lips moved in a routine dance and Root pulled away slightly as their lips remained barely touching. She opened her eyes and look Shaw in the eye as her warrior of a partner watch on with a hungry stare. “And don’t get all predacious after pulling a stunt like this.” Root huffed as she playfully slapped at Shaw’s sternum. Shaw grinned humorously before leaning in and pressing their lips together again. It was a short brief kiss, but Lionel still managed to interrupt them.

“Hey Cocoa Puffs, your water is boiling.” he said before quickly leaving the room when he saw the two women in the compromising position. Shaw looked away and cleared her throat, obviously embarrassed at getting caught being intimate with Root and without a shirt on.

“Sweetie, why are you always so embarrassed around Mr. Nicknames?” Root said as she rubbed her hands up and down Shaw’s upper arms.

“I’m not.” Shaw denied as she tried to get her bloody shirt back on, but Root held her hands and stopped her.

“Whatever you say, Sameen.” Root said before she walked over to a closet and opened the door. She pulled out a grey sweater and got it off the hanger before putting it back and closed the door. Root walked back over and started to help Shaw into the sweater when they were interrupted again by the doorbell. Reese walked into the living room this time and went to the front where the door was. Outside was a pizza delivery boy holding two boxes of pizza.

“Your total is going to be $25.61, sir.” the young boy said as Reese put down the suitcase on a table by the door and opened it. He grabbed one stack of the $10,000 and started to pull out a hundred dollar bill.

“Keep the change.” Reese said after he handed over the single bill and took the boxes from the delivery boy. He closed the door to the jaw dropping adolescent.

“Pizza?” Reese asked as he walked by the girls. Shaw eyed the boxes hungrily after Root had helped her put the sweater on and she was already on her feet and following Mr. Sunshine out of the room. Root smiled and threw the bloodied shirt Shaw was wearing from before and the damped washcloth into a plastic bag before heading into the kitchen herself to join the other three. She opened the side door to go outside and went to throw away the shirt in the garbage. When she got back, the three musketeers were already done with a box of pizza. She raised her eyebrows at that and went to make a cup of tea with the boiling water sitting on the stove. She turned the stove off and removed it from heat before she opened a cupboard to grab a cup and a tea bag. It was several minutes later when she was finally sitting next to Shaw at the kitchen counter and digging into a slice of cheese pizza.

“So what are we going to do with all that money?” Lionel was the first to speak up after ten minutes of silence.

“Split it up.” Shaw said without a second thought. Lionel Fusco looked at her in astonishment and blinked several times after realizing she was serious.

“But that’s like four million dollars.” Fusco said wide eyes and looked at the suitcases with disbelief.

“Alright, you can count. So we each get a million. Reese gets $999,900. He just paid $100 for pizza.” Shaw said with unmissable amusement.

“I’m going to get a million dollars?” Fusco continued in disbelief.

“If you don’t shut up, we’re going to split it three ways.” Shaw said with irritation written all over her face.

“What about Glasses?” Lionel asked.

“Technically, he’s a billionaire. We also kind-of work for him. He pays us, not the other way around.” Root said after she chewed the rest of her pizza and sipped on her mint tea. She rubbed her stomach and Shaw glanced down at where her hand was before looking up.

“You shouldn’t eat any dairy.” Shaw said as she took another slice of pizza and remove all of the cheese on top of it and put it on her plate. Root smiled wearily and inched closer to her before putting her hand on Shaw’s right thigh. She was currently on her monthly and dairy often worsen her cramps.

“Thanks, Sweetie.” Root said before she dug into the second slice and looked back up to Reese and Lionel averting their gazes at them. “She needs you two to follow up on the number and take him in before he starts going after another buyer. Harold should be back from Ireland tomorrow to help you both.” Root explained to them and they nodded in response.

“I know why Shortstack here can’t help, but Nutella, we could really use a hand with the number like today again.” Fusco suggested.

“I can’t. Sorry.” Root shrugged as Lionel Fusco look at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Look, I get that you and Funsize got a thing going on, but we could really use an extra tech whiz.” Lionel insisted again.

“Really, Lionel. I wish I could, but I’ve got some other issues - ” Root didn’t get to finish as Lionel jumped in again.

“Come on, Princess. It ain’t much fun with Mr. Sunshine here. Join the wagon and -”

“What part of no don’t you understand?” Shaw spoke up and looked Lionel dead in the eye. “Her insides are ripping apart. She needs to eat her weight in greasy food, she just cringed from her cramps, and has been feeling fatigued all day until she can go home and sleep.” Shaw said transparently.

“You don’t mean…” Lionel’s words trailed off as he put the slice of pizza in his hand down.

“I’m on my period.” Root said obviously as realization finally dawned on the homicide detective.

“Oh.” Lionel said embarrassed.  

“Yeah, _oh_. So stop flirting with my woman and eat your damn slice of pizza with the damn cheese on it.” Shaw growled in annoyance as she felt Root’s hand on her thigh rubbing back and forth.

“Shaw, it’s - it’s fine. He’s just being a trooper, that’s all. Right, Lionel?” Root smiled as she saw him nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s right.” he added and Reese looked like he was trying not to smile from the scene unfolding before him. Shaw ate her pizza with a huff and rolled her eyes before she let sidled up a little closer to Root. They all ate the rest of the pizza in silence with Shaw shoving two more slices into Root’s plate and taking off the cheese for her. Reese and Lionel left about an hour later after they formulated a plan on how to capture the number as Root uploaded all of his information onto a USB drive for the two men. Reese had grabbed one of the suitcases and left the other for Root and Shaw.

Root and Shaw found themselves lying in the king bed in the master bedroom upstairs after that. They were both lying on their sides, Shaw mostly on her right but careful not to put too much pressure on her hip and Root on her left. Root had quickly fallen asleep after using the bathroom and relieving herself of the pressure in her lower abdomen. She was really tired and Shaw knew it. Shaw stared at her features with interest, eyes flitting across the small cute mole on her right cheek from time to time. There were lines under her eyes and a frown appeared on her face whenever she dreamt a bad dream. Shaw would run her left thumb across her forehead to clear the lines and Root would sigh in her sleep, tugging at Shaw’s sleeve when she barely woke up to catch Shaw watching, and falling asleep from feeling too exhausted to wake up completely. Shaw’s eyes grew tired after about an hour and they slowly started closing when Root curled up into her and put a hand around her middle. She felt Root’s breath against her chest and her head under her chin and she let out a calm breath that escaped her body. It was the most comfortable they’ve been since three nights before when Root had left for New Mexico to take care of a relevant number. After Root came back the day after, she wasn’t the perky woman Shaw knew anymore and it wasn’t too hard to figure out why. Shaw had gone out to buy some over the counter medicine for her and have been making hot tea for her over the past few days as well to help with the menstrual cramps. It was a terrible time for Root, and Shaw empathize with her and felt her pain. It was becoming a monthly routine of Root being quiet and Shaw secretly did not enjoy it even though she acted like it on the outside. She liked Root filling in the silence of their relationship whenever she was talking, and when Root was on her monthly, she was the least talkative person Shaw knew. Shaw heard Root murmur again in her sleep before Shaw finally lost it and fell into her subconsciousness. It was a while before any of them would wake up. The next day to be exact, finding the two figures with limbs entangling with one another.

Shaw groan as she tried to extract herself from Root’s grip and moved too fast and hard, because it put a lot of pressure on her right hip and Root’s eyes opened immediately at Shaw’s loud whimper of pain. Root tried to remove herself completely from Shaw and closed her eyes before she turned the other way to go back to sleep. Shaw looked at her funny, because usually Root would be all over her when she was wounded as she was, but Shaw supposed Root was too tired because she was in a different uncomfortable pain herself. Root curled into herself and tried to reach for the sheets to cover her body in vain. It was a few seconds later that she finally gave up and coiled back into herself. Shaw gave a shake of her head before she move furtively up to Root and spooned her from behind. She let out a sigh at Shaw’s body heat and Shaw did her best to grab the top of the sheets and brought it over both their shoulders.

“You’re so warm.” Root murmured into the pillow her head was laying on and she scooted her rear into Shaw’s front. Shaw chuckled and buried her nose into Root’s wavy long brown hair that showed hints of dark blond color under the sunlight shining into the slits of the dark curtain panels. She smelled like a soft hint of vanilla and cherry scent. Shaw cuddled closer to Root and she noticed Root’s fingers caressing her left arm with a tenderness she’s only known from Root. Shaw felt a little warmth in her chest when she noticed that her arm was suddenly touching the underside of Root’s breasts and tried to lower it to Root’s middle, but she was met with resistance when Root kept her arm where it was. They’ve been intimate so many times, but when it came to this kind of compromising position, Shaw was still getting used to being in bed with Root this way without any carnal urge. Shaw really couldn’t keep her hands to herself most of the time when she was alone with Root, but Root didn’t seem to mind at all most of the time.

Shaw really did not have eyes for anyone else. She noticed it when she started going out with Root more; dining at a restaurant, going to the cinema, or simply sitting at a bar watching Root dance with a number. It was obvious that they trusted each other, and at the end of the day, Root was sleeping in Shaw’s arms in their bed. Shaw knew that even though Root was really good at being a flirt and reeling in her preys so effortlessly, Root belonged to Shaw and only Shaw. They’d make love to each other after the end of a long day, and it was just that feeling they had for each other that brought them together every time. She’s been chasing Root for so long that she doesn’t even know how to look at someone else anymore. In Shaw’s eyes, Root was the only one that mattered. Shaw’s never had a monogamous relationship with anyone, but if she had to admit it to herself, this was her first and only one. Every single day that passed only prove to Shaw that this was the only human she’d ever allow this close and the only being she’d open herself to. The only humanoid she’d ever go buy medicine for when the menstrual cramps are too terribly painful to endure, and the only person she’d make hot tea for in the middle of the day. What Shaw felt for Root was beyond her understanding, but the only thing she knew was that it felt right and it only felt right with Root. Root was a mystery to her, but at the same time, she was a thousand puzzle pieces Shaw knew how to put together and figure out. Plus, Root made a killer gin and juice that was even better than the usual beer buzz. Root was perfect for her. Shaw knew that Root knows this too. In Root’s words from years before, “ _We’re perfect for each other._ ” Those words were always echoing in the back of her mind when she was being tortured by Samaritan’s operatives. It was what kept her alive. It was what kept her from turning into the enemy. It was what Shaw held onto with her entire being to get back to Root.

“What are you thinking about?” Root asked while Shaw held her close. “I can feel you thinking.” Root teased as she caressed the back of Shaw’s hand.

“I thought the only thing you can feel are your menstrual cramps.” Shaw joked in return. Root let out a huff and wiggled her bum against Shaw, making the smaller woman chuckle.

“You're gonna get it all over me.” Shaw feigned disgust.

“No, I’m not.” Root whined as she decidedly turn in Shaw’s arms and faced her. “Stop being mean to me.” Root frowned as she playfully bit down on Shaw’s neck and surprising her. She smiled at Root’s playfulness and let her hands wander from Root’s back down to the curve of her backside and over her cheeky arse. Root sighed at the touch and leaned into Shaw’s hands, enjoying the intimate contact and Shaw not actually being repelled by her being on her monthly. Root settled with nibbling onto Shaw’s neck as she continued to stroke her buttocks with indulgence. Their breathings changed but neither moved to further their ministrations because of the conditions they both were in, but they were okay with it. After a while, Root finally moved her lips up to meet with Shaw’s and they kissed, arousing pleasure and gratification in their physical senses. Root ran her tongue over Shaw’s bottom lip and released it from between her teeth. She pulled away and licked her lips as Shaw’s eyes flutter open unsteadily.

“What are we doing today?” Root asked as she traced Shaw’s lips with her index finger, her eyes following the movement of her casual stroke.

“Go find an A-frame easel. I wanna paint.” Shaw said with ease.

“I didn’t know that you paint.” Root said as she lifted her eyes to lock with Shaw’s.

“I do.” Shaw admitted. “For fun. Nothing fancy.” Shaw added as Root’s eyes lit up like a saturated sunset. “I’ll need several canvases.” Shaw thought aloud.

“She knows the perfect place downtown to go get the materials you need. There’s a restaurant nearby too.” Root said.

“Good. I’m hungry.” Shaw growled playfully as she started attacking Root’s neck with fervor. Root laughed and curled up at feeling herself being tickled by Shaw. She didn’t dare to wrestle with the smaller woman in fear that she’d hurt her by accident. After about half a minute, Shaw stopped prodding her side and finally laid back down. They smiled at each other before Root lifted herself up with one arm and leaned over to kiss Shaw on the lips.

“ _I love you_.” Root whispered against her lips. Shaw nodded into the kiss and pulled her forward by the back of her neck, and Root let her.

It was about an hour later when they finally got out of the house and Root opened the garage to reveal a nice silver Ferrari 488 GTB. Shaw’s body was vibrating with excitement as she saw the nice car, and Root almost chuckled but decided to give her a head shake instead at her elation when it came to cars. Root tried to help Shaw get into the driver’s seat but was shooed away by Shaw, and so she went over to the passenger side and got in. It didn’t take Shaw long to fix her seat and figure out the interior of the car. Root pressed a button at the top near the car’s roof and the gate open to let the car outside of the property. Root pressed the same button after Shaw turned out of the long driveway and closed the gate as they started heading towards the restaurant that Root was mentioning earlier.

“Did you grab a stack of $10,000?” Shaw asked as she stepped gently on the brake as they neared a red streetlight.

“I took a few bills.” Root said casually as she looked out the window at people walking on the side of the street. There was a moment of silence after that.

“I found this place almost a decade ago. The house and car were my payout when I retrieved confidential information for this client of mine back then. Didn’t think I’d ever visit here again.” Root shared with a nostalgic undertone. She was a killer for hire back in the day, but Root also took on easy jobs with large payouts too whenever possible. It was the only way to survive. This was one of those jobs that didn’t make her feel so bad. She almost never felt bad about the things she’s done, but this one didn’t leave her conscience feeling slightly heavier than the others did. This house and car weren’t tainted by someone else’s blood. It’s probably one of the reasons why she kept them. They weren’t in any way given to her by the sacrifice of another life. Shaw understood why Root was explaining herself, but it couldn’t help but make her think that Root was more human than she admitted to be. In many ways, Root was already more human than Shaw was, but there were times where Shaw saw that Root saw herself as Shaw’s equal and didn’t consider herself to be more humane than Shaw. They arrived at the restaurant after ten minutes of driving, and Shaw was glad for it because she was incredibly hungry and her body was so spent from the previous day’s activities.

They walked in and had to stand waiting for a few minutes as the people there were setting up a table for them. Root was in a navy blue chiffon shirt dress and Shaw was wearing the usual dark grey shirt with black pants. Their eyes wander and looked at the menu in the meantime and it wasn’t like them to show affection in public, but Root pulled Shaw into her lap after she sat down on a bench nearby and Shaw didn’t resist and even lean back into Root as they looked at the menu in Shaw’s hands together.

“I want chicken.” Shaw said as she scanned the poultry items on the left. Root wrapped her arms around Shaw, careful of her right side and tried to decide what kind of seafood she wanted. A trio platter would be best for Root since she’s feeling like having options. Or she could order three separate plates if necessary. They just had a big pay day after all.

“Are there any variabilities of seafood dishes on the menu?” Root asked. Shaw’s eyebrows arched and rolled her eyes at the question, and tried to look for a plate that would answer Root’s question.

“They’ve got a combo section with a wood-burning grill and - ” Shaw couldn’t finish her sentence as Root jumped in.

“Oh, goodie! I want scallops, the atlantic salmon, and...a cold water lobster tail with lemon butter, if they have it.” Root said excitedly. Shaw turned her head around and looked at Root oddly. Root almost never gets excited about food, especially when she was on her monthly. “What? I’m hungry too.” Root said with a pout.

“Okay.” Shaw laughed a little before she stood up as she saw a man approaching them from her peripheral vision. He asked them to follow him into an adjacent room and pulled their chairs out and seated them at the table. After telling the two that their server would be with them shortly, a blonde girl appear nearly half a minute later and started to take their drink orders after she put down two glasses of water. Shaw couldn’t help but notice the way she was staring at Root and letting her eyes run over Root’s wonderful figure, and she almost huffed in annoyance at the girl as she left their table.

“What’s wrong, Sweetie?” Root asked almost immediately after their waiter left. She noticed something was wrong right away as soon as Shaw’s face scrunched up while staring dejectedly at their glasses of water.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Shaw simply said and met Root’s gaze. Root shrugged and took the glass of water into her hand before bringing it to her lips to drink it. Shaw stopped her midway and put it down. Root wasn’t allowed to drink any ice water while she still had her cramps. They only made her feel worse. Shaw waved a server nearby over and asked for water without ice and he quickly took the glass away and went to retrieve Root’s water.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Root smiled softly at Shaw.

“I know.” Shaw said neutrally in return and Root put her hand over Shaw’s on the table.

“You’re the sweetest.” Root teased as Shaw rolled her eyes at the flattery. Their server returned with Root’s glass of water, and the two of them parted at the sight of the blonde waitress. The brush of her hand against Root’s arm did not escape Shaw's observation and made her growl lowly in response. Root glanced up at the blonde and smiled at her, and Shaw only rolled her eyes at Root’s obliviousness to the whole situation. She started to comment on Root’s blue dress and Shaw let out a frustrated sigh, wishing this didn’t happen all the time. Well, most of the times. She’s thought about getting them wedding rings so that others would stay away, but she didn’t know how to go on and explain what that would mean for both of them. She didn’t know what she wanted it to mean. Not yet anyways. Shaw eyed the girl as she desperately used cheesy lines on Root, and after another person came by the table to set down her drink, she started watching Root’s interaction with the girl and see how long it could go on. They talked about books on interior design and how she was trying to create an algorithm to help people with different taste and preferences choose the theme and style they really want. Root feigned some interest but Shaw could see that Root was surprisingly impressed with her intellect. They smiled and talked for several minutes before the girl started apologizing for bothering Root too long. The girl glanced over at Shaw to see if she cared, and of course Shaw acted like she didn’t. Root smiled a soft smile as she excused herself and Root turned back to look at Shaw after she left.

“She’s too smart to be working here.” Root said as she drank some of the water. Shaw looked at Root with a strange expression before digging into the appetizer of French mussels they ordered.

“That’s what students do. They work to pay for school.” Shaw said as she put the shells to the side of her plate.

“But that’s the thing. She doesn’t have to work. She’s here on a full-ride scholarship to Brown University and she comes from quite a well-off family.” Root said enthusiastically that made Shaw pause in the middle of deshelling the mussel she was about to eat. Of course the Machine had given the girl’s full background history to Root while they were talking.

“What are you trying to say?” Shaw asked in confusion, wondering where they topic was leading to.

“Nothing… I’m just…impressed. She’s impressive.” Root said as though it should be obvious.

“I bet her family isn’t too happy she’s working as a dainty waitress here.” Shaw commented as realization smacked her on the side of her head. “She’s our new number.” Shaw said plainly. Root nodded and smiled at how fast Shaw had caught on. “I thought we were here to have lunch because it was close to an art shop.” Shaw frowned as she thought they’d have a day off.

“She needs our help.” Root said as her eyes went back to spying on the girl.

“You were trying to make me jealous.” Shaw told her outrightly. Root chuckled and nodded before she got a slap on the arm. “You knew she was into women too, didn’t you?” Shaw asked as Root nodded and tried to hide a giggle behind her hand. “That was… That was...unnecessary.” Shaw said with a huff as she threw the white cloth napkin onto the table and crossed her arms.

“Sorry, Sameen. I couldn’t help myself.” Root winked at Shaw. Their main courses came out right about then as the girl put down the plates in front of them. She turned and asked Root first if she needed anything else and she shook her head, and Shaw asked for several slices of lemon. Root skillfully took the lobster meat out of the tail and sliced it into small pieces before dipping one in the melted lemon butter. Shaw stared at her with an arched eyebrow while cutting into her steak as Root moaned while chewing. Shaw ended up choosing steak over chicken. Old habits were hard to change. The girl came by with extra slices of lemon and Shaw pushed the small bowl to Root because she knew Root liked to add more lemon juice to her seafood as she ate. It was a quirk that interest Shaw at first and something she quickly became accustomed to and made note of. Root was typing into her phone as she thoughtlessly took a slice of lemon and squeezed some juice into her scallop before putting it down and taking a small piece of the scallop into her mouth. Shaw watched with mirthful eyes, watching the clever hacker multitask and tossed a french fry into her mouth. She crossed her arms on the white tablecloth as she observed Root, wondering what she was up to. Shaw gave a quick glance towards the chef that kept popping his head up from the kitchen to steal a look at their waitress. She saw his hungry eyes. He looked impatient.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Shaw announced as she stood up. Root didn’t even look up as she continued typing away at her phone. Shaw walked towards the bathroom but opened the door with a sign that clearly said “Employees Only” in front of it. She navigated around the back of the kitchen without much trouble and found the same man with the white hat walking near a corner and turning to open a door. She pushed him into the walk-in freezer as he barely took a step in.

“Look, I’m not trying to be a hero today, but if you look at that blonde wrong again and don’t behave, I’m not gonna feel bad killing you.” Shaw said threateningly and got straight to the point. He was about to open his mouth to deny the accusation but Shaw gave him a hard stare.

“I watch people. I watch the fear creep into them. I watch them make mistakes. Don’t make me dose you with sodium thiopental. If I get another call from my Boss that she’s detecting potential acts of terror from a dog like you again, I promise I’ll put you down myself.” Shaw warned and noticed the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, even though they were standing in the middle of a freezer. “Now, be a good pup and take that knife out of your front pocket you’re gripping onto with your dear life and put it on that shelf over there.” Shaw said as she nodded towards the shelf to her right. He slowly pulled out the sharp weapon but Shaw didn’t even flinch as he tried to attack her. She grabbed his wrist with her impressive cat reflex and twisted his arm in a way that made him drop the weapon and simultaneously injected sodium thiopental into the side of his neck with impressive accuracy. He dropped to the ground seconds later and she extracted the needle from his neck. She shook her head and pulled him further into the freezer and hid him behind boxes of meat. Before she went outside, she jammed the lock and closed the door behind her and turning the freezer off with the dial on the outside. The chef would be out for hours and nobody would look for him anytime soon. Shaw snuck out of the kitchen and into the bathroom to wash her hands, fixing her shirt and stretching her shoulder a bit after having put a little bit of pressure on it from carrying the heavy man. She dried her hands with the paper towel and took one last look at her stoic features before exiting the bathroom. When she started heading back to the table, she noticed that the waitress was still trying to talk Root up again. Shaw was annoyed that this was what she gets in return for helping to save her life. She cleared her throat as she got near, and both women looked up at her, surprised that she was back.

“We were just talking about you.” Root smirked as Shaw sat down and eyed her suspiciously.

“That sounds both vague _and_ dangerous.” Shaw said sarcastically as she popped another french fry into her mouth. Root smiled smugly as she leaned forward with her arms on the table.

“Colleen here was suggesting that she could join us in bed.” Root said with mirthful eyes.

“Is this for your benefit or mine?” Shaw asked uninterested as she chewed on a cube steak she just cut out. She tapped out a Morse code on the table as she kept up her appearance at being uninterested.

_I took out the threat. Won’t wake for another three or four hours._

__

_I know. She told me that the threat has been eliminated._ Root tapped back in response as she continued some small talk with Colleen of how she felt about bondage.

__

_So whose idea was it to have group sex?_ Shaw drummed with her fingers as she glanced from the girl to Root.

__

_Hers…_

__

_Root._

__

_Mine._

__

_Why?_

__

_Because she’s cute._

__

_She looks too fragile and breakable._

__

_So you’re interested?_

__

_No._ Shaw ended their side conversation. Root smiled widely her way and turned back to Colleen to see that she was writing something on her writing pad.

“Just give me a call if you’re still in town and...interested.” Colleen said as she tear the paper from the spring holding the papers together and put the slip of paper on their table, simultaneously picking up the receipt that Root had signed. She must have paid while Shaw was gone to take care of the threat. Colleen sauntered to the back of the bar and Root and Shaw stared at each other with knowing looks.

“Don’t people in...whatever this is that we’re in...discuss these things first before we invite a third party into bed?” Shaw asked Root. The witty computer genius looked at Shaw with surprise and tried not to laugh.

“Shaw, it’s going to be fun. You, me, and that cutie over there…having hot, hot sexy time.” Root teased Shaw as she watched her with a lingering gaze. “Plus, I’ve always wondered what it’s like to bed two subs at the same time.” Root smiled too schemingly for Shaw to actually believe her words now.

“Who are you calling a sub?” Shaw blew out with a huff as Root leaned forward even further.

“You...and Colleen, of course.” Root challenged Shaw. “Well, she does seem like a sub.” Root added and giggled. Shaw rolled her eyes at Root who only giggled more. “I’m kidding, Sameen. I wouldn’t want to bed anyone but you.” Root said genuinely as her laugh lighten and she looked at Shaw with her brown doe eyes. “You’re way too special to share with anyone else.” Root admitted as she reached a hand over and placed it on top of Shaw’s.

“Good. It’s not really my cup of tea.” Shaw said as removed her hand from under Root’s took the cloth napkin to wipe at the corners of her mouth. “Are we done here?” Shaw asked as she stood up. Root nodded and went around the table to take Shaw’s hand before leading them out of the restaurant. They look cute together. They walked together to an art shop two blocks away and the fall air wrapped around them like a cool blanket. Shaw opened the door as Root walked in and Shaw bit down on her bottom lip as she watched the sway in Root’s hips as she set foot in the store. She shook her head and grinned a little as she thought about how good Root looks wearing blue.

“Excuse me, where can we find an A-frame easel and some empty canvases?” Root asked the young male manning the desk behind the counter.

“Over here, Root.” Shaw said as her eyes immediately found the materials she needed. She grabbed a bit of everything and put it into a shopping basket the guy was kind enough to hand her while she tossed the various painting items in. Root watched with amusement, looking at all the stuff Shaw had thrown into the basket without as much as a three-second glance. When they got to the counter and the young man ring them up, Shaw pulled out a wallet Root never noticed she had on her and handed over several large bills to pay for the art supplies. They left the store with Root holding a bag of the painting items as Shaw held the big easel easily under her arm and stuffed the empty canvases beneath the other one. Root let Shaw lead them to the car and unlocked the car to load the things into it.

“I want some gelato.” Root said as she opened the passenger door.

“I don’t see why we can’t make a short stop.” Shaw shrugged. Root smiled as they both closed the door and Shaw switched on the engine. It wasn’t long before they stopped in front of an Italian gelato stop that Root directed them to. They browsed around the store looking at the many flavors even though Root already knew what she wanted. Shaw ended up choosing the chocolate gelato while Root stood by and waited for the guy to come back and get her flavor.

“I’d like the donut flavor gelato please.” Root said as he came back with Shaw’s ice cream topped with raspberries. Shaw gave her a weird look before eating her ice cream without waiting for Root as Root watched her with fondness in her eyes.

“You’ve got a little something here.” Root said as she brought an index finger up to her face and tapped at the corner of her mouth as Shaw tried to wipe at her own face with the back of her hand.

“Here, let me help you.” Root said as she leaned in and licked the corner of Shaw’s mouth and then her lips. Root pressed a kiss on her lips before pulling away, smirking at the unimpressed expression on Shaw’s face.

“Okay, that was kind-of lame.” Shaw commented as she went back to eating her ice cream. Root turned around to see the guy holding her gelato in a cup with his jaw dropped.

“Is that mine?” Root smiled flirtily.

“Y-yeah. Wow. It’s all yours.” the guy said with a lustful look on his face.

“Thanks.” Root said as she left a ten dollar bill on the counter and walked out of the shop with Shaw.

“You drive. I’ll eat.” Shaw said as she unlock the car doors and slid into the passenger seat, leaving Root standing in one place looking puzzled. It was only a few seconds later when Root slid into the driver’s seat and started the car.

“If I’m driving, you’re feeding me my donut gelato.” Root commanded.

“Who eats donut gelato?” Shaw said with her face scrunched up and taking the cup out of Root’s hand. “But fine. Drive.” Shaw ordered as she sat back into the passenger seat and filled herself with chocolate ice cream. Root chuckled and shook her head as she pulled out of the parking space and started driving back to their temporary home. Everything felt so good with Shaw next to her, and Root couldn’t wait to enjoy her donut gelato while Shaw painted.


	9. Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there everyone (and each of you that commented in the previous chapter)! 
> 
> I am finally on break from school and I tried to whip this one up real quick to make up for lost time. I hope it is okay... I am sorry for not responding to the commenters soon enough. I will do my best to get to that tomorrow! :) As for now, I hope y'all sit tight and enjoy this ride. It's 4am. I'll be going to sleep now... Have a great day everybody! Cheers! 
> 
> -Gloria

Root looked out the window in the passenger seat and strummed her fingers casually against her chin as her elbow rested against the car door. The car had been filled with silence for the past two hours, and Root haven’t even as much as spoken a word to Shaw, let alone spare a glance her way. Shaw had said something insensitive earlier, and normally that wouldn’t really upset Root, but this time it did. She really had no words for Shaw after what was said and she pretty much ignored the other woman for the better part of their three and a half hours ride back into the city. Shaw tried to talk to Root several times, but the sharp-witted hacker turned a deaf ear to her. It wasn’t her actual deaf ear since it was the right one that had a cochlear implant surgically placed in. It was something Shaw’s never commented on before...until today, which brought them to the moment they were at now. Shaw had accidentally made a backhanded comment about Root’s ear after Shaw yelled for her not to shoot but a gunfire went off from her gun anyway a second after, and Root had accidentally shot the oxygen tank the number threw their way. Thankfully, they dodged the catastrophe as an explosion rang throughout the entire building. Shaw had pulled Root down and landed on top of her, covering and protecting Root with her entire body as she buried her face into the back of Root’s neck when the explosion materialized and blew up most of the twenty-seventh floor of the building they were in. After getting up, Shaw made a comment about the ear being useless, when she really meant to say the Machine, and briefly mentioned how much she hated it sometimes, and Root did her best to hold back the tears that had threatened to fall.

_“If you hate it so much, then why do you keep asking me what She knows?” Root snapped back._

_“Root, that’s not what I - ” Shaw barely got the beginning of her apology in._

_“Save it, Sameen.” Root said as she started for the exit without Shaw._

They eventually met at the car about five minutes after, as police sirens started to sound in a mile radius of their location. Root got into the passenger side and stayed quiet ever since.

_“Root...you know I didn’t meant what I said back there.” Shaw tried but she really wasn’t good at apologies._

The first time Shaw tried to apologize, it didn’t really induce any kind of reaction from Root. It was about twenty minutes later that she tried again after getting on the main highway.

_“I know how important She is to you. I wasn’t saying She wasn’t worth sacrificing a part of your hearing for.” Shaw attempted again._

Still, Root remained silent and kept disregarding all the words Shaw said. An hour later, Shaw tried again.

_“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I got frustrated, I couldn’t control the words that came out, and your feelings got hurt. Your feelings are still hurt, I know.” Shaw said defeatedly._

Root had soften at Shaw’s first real apology ever, knowing it took a lot of Shaw to muster up those words, but still, she felt the sting of it all and couldn’t seem to allow herself to get over it just yet. She didn’t let Shaw see how much her words had disarmed Root. For Root, it wasn’t about saying the right things. It was about doing the right things that would make the apology count. It was barely fifteen minutes later that Shaw tried a fourth expression of regret over her words.

_“Today’s our six-year anniversary. Come on, Root. I know I screwed up.” Shaw spoke softer this time around. Root remained quiet and didn’t say anything in return, but she was surprised that Shaw remembered._

__

An hour later, they were pulling up into the parking garage of Shaw’s apartment building. It was already seven in the evening and the sky had gotten mostly dark outside. Without warning, Root opened the car door and stepped out just as Shaw had just taken off her seatbelt and turn to face her. Only, she was met with Root’s backside and Shaw rolled her eyes before quickly getting out of the car herself. Root was standing near the elevator waiting for the shaft’s doors to slide open with her arms crossed and eyes facing downwards. The trunk to the car popped open and Shaw took out the small duffel bag that she carried her weapons in. She closed it and locked the doors, barely making it into the elevator as the doors slid closed. Shaw glanced to her left and saw the sulking woman standing in the farthest corner from her. Shaw’s eyes moved upward to the ceiling as she tried to figure out how to put away everything she’d ask Reese to help set up. A candlelit dinner seemed unsuitable for the mood that they were in right now. As the lift stopped at the fourth floor, Root moved to step out first and Shaw let her while she followed behind but kept a distance. Root opened the door to the apartment with her own key and Shaw winced as she saw all the furnitures moved out of the way and the dining table was set in the middle of the room. Root’s steps faltered as her eyes fell on the candlelit table and the tea candles set around the room, creating a soft orange glow. She blinked furiously at the sight in front of her, not quite believing her eyes. There was even a bouquet of roses in the middle of the table. Root was speechless to say the least.

Shaw watched on, biting at the bottom of her lips, not really sure if she should go ahead and start putting everything away. She dropped the bag of weapons gently onto the kitchen counter nearby.

“Root.” Shaw spoke softly as she walked towards the woman that she’s upset earlier in the day. Root didn’t turn around after Shaw addressed her, so Shaw decided to walk around.

“Look, Root…” Shaw frowned as she saw that silent tears were making their way down Root’s face. Shaw brought her hands up to Root’s face and wiped the steady stream of teardrops from Root’s face. Root’s lips were quivering before she launched herself into Shaw’s arms. Shaw’s frown deepen as she started rubbing Root’s back with one hand while bringing the other one up to cup the back of Root’s head.

“ _I hate you_.” Root said as she pounded her fists against Shaw’s upper back, but the feeble attempts at hurting her still made Shaw wince a little, whether that was noticeable to the both of them or not.

“I know.” Shaw utter gently as she ran the hand she had behind Root’s head through the brunette’s hair. Root’s strikes lessen as the seconds went by and soon, it stopped and she only held onto Shaw tighter, and Shaw let her. They stayed like that for a while until Root’s sobs subsided and eventually came to an end. Root pulled away a little and she looked down at the ground, feeling embarrassed at allowing Shaw to see how vulnerable she actually was.

“Hey,” Shaw said as she put a finger under her chin and lifted her head up to Shaw’s eye level. “Don’t look away.” Shaw told her. Root looked into her eyes, searching for reassurance that they were okay. “We’re okay.” Shaw whispered softly as though reading her mind. Shaw wiped at Root’s face again but with the back of her long sleeve shirt this time, not being able to hold in her laugh anymore when she couldn’t take how cute Root look with mascara running down her face. Root pouted and it only made Shaw’s smile widen even more and she lean in to kiss Root’s pouty lips. What was supposed to be a tender, caring, and loving light brush of their lips turned into a more hungry and eager kiss, and Shaw moaned when she felt her lower back being pressed against the dinner table already set up. She pulled away before she could fall and knock over the candles, and she had to push Root’s shoulders back in order to stop the taller brunette to follow her down to the table.

“Let’s...do dinner first.” Shaw suggested as Root look at her with a disappointed look. Shaw chuckled and moved in to kiss Root’s forehead after her pulling her down to her height by the back of the neck. Root rolled her eyes slightly and huffed.

“Well, I’m not eating anything...unless you’re making my favorite _cioppino_.” Root said before grazing her lips against Shaw’s.

“I wasn’t planning on making anything else.” Shaw whispered and smiled against her lips. Root’s eyes widened in surprise and she turned and looked over her shoulder at the kitchen where recipes were already prepared and laid out for Shaw to start cooking, something she hadn’t taken notice of earlier when she entered the apartment. “I had a little help from John.” Shaw said as her eyes darted over to the kitchen too. “But I’ll be doing most of the cooking.” Shaw add in. Root turned her head back around and rested her hands on both sides of Shaw’s hips, but then she changed her mind and let her hands travel upward all the way up to the top of Shaw’s chest, fingers ghosting over her breasts on the way up.

“While I’m keeping busy in the kitchen…” Shaw said as she took one of the hands resting on above her chest and started pulling her along the hallway. “You...are...going to spend it…” Shaw paused between words as she tug her step by step to the bathroom. “ _Here_.” Shaw said as she opened the door to another candlelit room. Only four tea candles were found in each of the corners of the bathtub. Rose petals floated atop the water with a white bubble slash white foam swathe the entire top surface. There were some candlelights around the bathroom too to make it a little brighter.

“Sameen…” Root said in awe as her jaw unhinges a little at the added romantics to the night. “ _You give me the best gifts_.” Root said as she turned around and immediately pressed her lips against Shaw’s, surprising the smaller woman and making her gasp a little. “I thought you _don’t do romantic things_.” Root teased as they pulled away but Shaw’s hands remain resting on Root’s lower back to keep their bodies close and pressed together.

Shaw pursed her lips and looked at Root with serious eyes. “ _I’d do anything for you_.” the words escape her when she released her lips from the tight compression of being pressed together. Root’s eyes widen and they smiled in surprise as her lips curve upwards. She did the head tilt to the side that Shaw found incredibly cute and amusing and she found herself smiling too. “The water should still be really warm. Dinner will be ready in forty-five minutes.” Shaw said before pressing a gentle kiss against Root’s lips and slipping away suavely as she closed the bathroom door behind her. Shaw shut her eyes and leaned the back of her head against the door. She felt her heart beating so loud in her ears as she tried to regain control of herself she’s rarely ever lost except around Root sometimes. She heard the rustling of clothes behind the door before the sound of water splashing and sloshing reached her ears. Shaw grinned and breathed in a deep breath. _Time to cook that cioppino_ , she thought to herself.

An hour later, Root and Shaw were sitting across from each other enjoying the fish and shellfish stew that Shaw cooked. The lights from the candles grew a little brighter as it got darker outside, and Root smiled so genuinely every time she looked Shaw’s way, Shaw literally felt herself melting in her seat.

“You’re forgiven, you know.” Root started.

 

“I know...but I still regret saying it.” Shaw responded. It’s not an emotion she often felt, so she couldn’t help squirming in her seat a little at a time.

“I’m sorry I didn’t hear your warning. I really couldn’t hear with all the gunshots. She tried to warn me a second too late as well.” Root offered.

“No, I should’ve - ” Shaw paused and put down her utensils to look at Root from across the table with a serious expression. “Look, I’m just glad we both made it out of there alive. Let’s just eat, okay?” Shaw asked. Root held Shaw’s gaze for a few more seconds before nodding and they both resumed eating and humming at the juicy seafood.

“I can’t believe you remember our anniversary.” Root chuckled as she de-shell a shrimp and smiled at it instead of at Shaw, who lifted her head and quirked an eyebrow.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Shaw asked as though it was the most obvious thing in the world that she’d remember it. Root snorted as she tossed the shrimp into her mouth and chewed with gusto. “Ew. Don’t snort while you’re eating.” Shaw commented as she shook her head and her mouth reshaped into that of disgust.

“Why? It’s funny.” Root said before sucking on the sauce on her thumb. Shaw stare at her lips as Root draw the thumb back into her mouth and sucked with an irresistible smirk upon her lips.

“Root.” Shaw said as she finally caught her eyes.

“What is it, Sameen?” Root asked innocently.

“I… Thanks.” was all Shaw could come up with.

“You’re welcome?” Root said more as a question than a statement. Root looked a little confused at Shaw but went back to eating.

“Let’s get married.” Shaw finally said after a minute of silence. Root’s head jerked up in surprise and Root look at Shaw as though she’s grown another head. “I’m serious. I’m tired of...whatever this is that we have. I want this to be real. What I have with you, I don’t want with anyone else. I want you to know that I really want this with you, Root. I want you to know that I...love... _you_.” Shaw drawled out, not quite believing that she said that out loud. Root’s fork fell out of her fingers and dropped onto the plate, splashing the stew all over the front of the white shirt she was wearing. “Shit.” Shaw cursed under her breath as she immediately stood up and went to get another cloth napkin and came back to help Root wipe the mess.

“Fuck. I’m sorry.” Shaw swore as she leaned down and helped Root clean the stains on her nice white top, but Root was only staring at Shaw with those perfect doe eyes Shaw love looking into.

“Shaw… Shaw!” Root smiled as her hands came up to stop whatever it was Shaw was doing to try and get the stain off her shirt.

“What? I’m helping you get your shirt - ” Shaw was about to argue before she felt Root’s lips pressed against her own. She closed her eyes momentarily at the invasion of Root’s tongue and savored her lips that tasted like pure paradise. Root pulled away from her seconds later and Shaw slowly opened her eyes to look into Root’s.

“I love you.” Root said while looking into Shaw’s eyes and searching for an answer.

“I love you too, Root.” Shaw said a heartbeat after before Root wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled her down into another searing kiss. That lasted about a minute before Shaw pulled back and tugged Root to follow her. Root did and Shaw pulled her in by the hips and they kissed, breathing in deeply. Their hands wander and they move to the couch in the living room. Shaw backed Root into it and Root fell onto the couch before Shaw joined her. Root looked up at Shaw and smiled.

“I never thought I’d get to hear that.” Root said as though she could not believe her only working ear.

“Yeah, well, you did.” Shaw could only say and wanted to show Root the love that she showed to her.

“So, we’re getting married?” Root smirked up at Shaw before Shaw rolled her eyes at the way Root had said it.

“Maybe.” Shaw teased.

“Maybe someday?” Root teased back as her eyes shone bright along with the candlelights.

“Stop talking in codes.” Shaw said.

“But you like it when I talk - ” Root barely got to say when Shaw cut her off by pressing her lips against Root’s. Root responded to the kiss immediately and pulled Shaw closer as she straddled Root, pressing their centres together. Root moaned and dragged Shaw closer into her body by the neck, and Shaw followed, smiling against the hacker’s lips.

  
Once upon a time, Shaw kissed people whose tongues seeped with longing of something so deep, and tender, and rare that she thought she’d never find it. Here, the chills that ran down her back as Root’s lips pressed against her neck proved otherwise. She found it. The warmth that ran through her veins and rolled over into the morning to Root’s sweet smile. Shaw found herself soaking in the sun through the cracks in the blinds and knew that this was it. _This is it_. 

_She's the one._


End file.
